Matthew 21:23-32

23 When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And chief priests and elders argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
  28 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 The son answered, ‘I will not’; but later changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and the second son answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the dominion of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.”

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Please pray with me this morning, church:

Holy One,

In a world rife with dichotomies,

We beg you,

Heal our divisions.

Make us one.

As you are one.

Amen.

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I’m someone who always strives to do what I say I’m going to do.

I like to think that I’m a person of my word.

Especially when I’m asked to do something, and I say I’m going to do it, I aim to be the type of person who does the thing I said I was going to do.

Now…we can get into the particulars about when I do the thing I said I was going to do…but it’s still true that I try to always be someone who does what they said they would do. Tiffany would certainly point to the timing aspect of this scenario. “Sure, you say you’re going to do it, but it’d be a heck of a lot nicer if you would do the thing, like, you know, when I ask you.”

It’s an often-repeated phrase at our house: “I said I’d do it!” after she’s already doing the thing she asked me to do that I said I would do.

I suppose my inadequate defense in these matters is that I tend to operate on a more divine timeline…

Whatever, but we ain’t waiting until Jesus comes again for you to do the dishes.

Fair enough.

You’re right. I’m often wrong in these cases. I’m sorry.

See, there it is for posterity.

Being a person of your word is important.

Doing the thing you said you said you were going to do is important.

It’s about you being a person of integrity.

Aligning your words and your actions.

I want very much to try and make this Gospel reading about aligning one’s words and one’s actions because I feel strongly that that’s a convicting and powerful word for our time—that what you do and what you say…matter…deeply.

And aligning what you do and what you say…matters…deeply.

And doing what you say you’re going to do…matters…deeply.

But I’m just not sure that’s this Gospel reading.

I do think Jesus does have something to say about that alignment elsewhere in the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus says, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’ be ‘No’. Anything else besides comes from the devil.”—but I just don’t think that’s exactly what Jesus is saying here.

A father had 2 sons and asked the first to go out and work in the vineyard. Initially, the son refused but later went out to work. The father asked the second son the same, to go out and work in the vineyard. The second son said that he would go out and work but did not. Which one of these did the will of his father?

I think Jesus is talking about words and actions here, but it seems to be more like, “Both words and actions are important, but if you’re going to fault in one, better for your actions to align with the kingdom of God, rather than just your words but not your actions.” In other words, don’t just talk about God’s justice and righteousness…don’t just talk about building up God’s kingdom where all are treated as beloved…actually do the work of building up and bringing about the kingdom.

“Well, ok, Pastor Chris…I can get on board with that. But what does this kingdom of God look like?”

That’s a great question, church, and I’m glad you asked.

If you flip with me in your Bibles forward just a few chapters to Matthew 25, verses 31-46, but really beginning with verse 35…the dominion of God looks like the hungry being given food, the thirsty given something to drink, the stranger and foreigner being welcomed, the naked being clothed, the sick being cared for, the imprisoned visited…

Or if Luke is more your speed, flip forward a little more to Luke 4, verses16-30, where Jesus says “The Spirit of Lord is upon me and the Spirit has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and imprisoned, recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

In other words, the reign of God doesn’t look much like what we’ve got going on down here right now save for some small examples happening intermittently. We catch glimpses and brief moments of this vision, but I think you’d agree, on a large scale, we’re really quite far off the mark.

But the good news, church, is that we don’t have to stay there. You and I are not limited to our present realities. We can participate, we can join our work and our voice to the work already being done to make our world look more like God’s dream. We have the option to help bring God’s justice and God’s righteousness more to bear on our present. That’s work we can do. That’s work we can help with.

But it does take some resetting of our values. It does take some realignment on our part. We have to get to a place where we believe that those things Jesus talks about, those conditions and indicators of God’s kingdom, can actually be made real and tangible right here and right now in our midst. We have to believe that those things are possible. And not be resigned to these present realities.

I’m talking about aligning our values with Gospel values.

Rather than trying to make the Gospel fit our worldview…why don’t we shape our world to look more like the Gospel?

God’s vision of justice and peace is often at odds with the way things are in our world. That’s just true.

We’ve just spent the past month hearing about God’s forgiveness, and God’s abundance, and God’s extravagant generosity…words like “the first will be last and the last will be first”…hearing how God’s ways are not our ways…and how it sometimes feels like God’s ways are an inverse of our ways…and “It’s not fair!” we protest, like the Israelites to Ezekiel…

No……it’s not fair.

The kingdom of God is not fair.

The kingdom of God is just.

The kingdom of God is righteous.

“Very truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.”

Very truly I tell you, the swindlers and the sex workers are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

Do you see how offensive this is?

Very truly I tell you, the beat down and the cast aside are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

Very truly I tell you, the marginalized and the oppressed are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

Very truly I tell you, the conservatives and the pro-lifers are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

Very truly I tell you, the liberals and the socialists are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

Very truly I tell you, the Boomers and the elders are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

Very truly I tell you, the Millennials and the Gen Z-ers are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

Those that listened…and repented…and changed their ways…they’re entering into God’s dominion before you.

Do you see…how offensive this is?

The kingdom of God is not fair.

The kingdom of God is just.

The kingdom of God is righteous.

The good news, however, church, is that just because they’re going into God’s kingdom ahead of you, doesn’t mean they’re taking your place. They’re just ahead of you in line.

This is the great scandal that I think we sometimes fail to grasp. We take Jesus at his word when it benefits us or confirms our opinions and beliefs, but we set it aside or dismiss it when it doesn’t serve our interests.

Like the religious leaders in the gospel, we question where Jesus is coming from. “By what authority are you doing these things?” Where do you get off telling me what to do?

Jesus is confronted and challenged by the religious establishment. And you and I have our own beliefs and opinions confronted day in and day out. And usually, where we come down when we’re confronted depends on whether or not the message confirms or denies our beliefs and opinions.

Does this person or authority confirm my belief or opinion? Great, I’ll accept their views as confirmation that I’m right. Does this person or authority challenge or pose a perspective different from or countervailing to my own beliefs and opinions? Pfftttt……write ‘em off…fake news…

Mostly…

You and I struggle with hearing perspectives that are different than the ones we’ve already formed. In general, you and I are not good at changing our thoughts or beliefs, or changing our mind or our habits…which is what John the baptizer was calling out for people to do when he was out in the wilderness. Remember? “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Repent—metanoia—literally “change your mind”, move from the direction you were headed over here into a new direction, follow a new way.

Repentance isn’t about words. Repentance is about your actions.

But when challenged with our beliefs and opinions, you and I likely sound much more like the religious establishment in this story, “By what authority…by whose authority…do you get to tell me how to think and how to act?” With all the false piety and bloated righteous indignation we can muster, “Who made you the boss of me?! Where do you get off telling me what to do?”

Another great question I’m glad you asked, Church. Because I think Jesus has something to say here, too. I think Jesus cares very much about our thoughts and our beliefs and our words and our actions.

It’s why I chose to also bring in Paul’s word to the community at Philippi to our readings this morning. The great Christ Hymn from Philippians 2:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.

Look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

Again, let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
 who, although being in the form of God,
  did not regard equality with God
  as something to be exploited,
 but relinquished it all,
  taking the form of a slave,
  being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,
  Christ humbled himself
  and became obedient to the point of death—
  even death on a cross.

 Therefore God also highly exalted Christ
  and gave Christ the name
  that is above every name…

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.

Regard others…as better…than yourselves.

Don’t look to your own interests…look to the interests of others.

Be humble.

Serve.

Be obedient to God’s will.

Die to those selfish ways that draw you away from your neighbor and from God.

And therefore also be highly exalted.

Matthew 18:15-20

[Jesus said:] 15 “When another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 And if the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 “Very truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, very truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by God in heaven. 20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

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Please pray with me this morning, church:

Holy God,

Repairer. Bridge-builder.

Help us in the midst of heightened passions,

Of enflamed tensions, and difficult conversations.

Draw us together. Bind us up.

In your love, bind us to one another.

Amen.

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I am not the most graceful individual.

In fact, I’m straight up clumsy.

I run into things, I step on toes, I trip over my own feet…

And it was in one of those less graceful moments that I broke my first bone. It was in undergrad and we were playing sand volleyball. Fun, minimal contact, not a lot of opportunity for injury, you might think…and generally, you’d be right…but this is me we’re talking about…

I got started backpedaling for a ball that was headed over my head, got my feet tangled up, started to fall, and **crack**…

Painful. Searing pain in my foot.

I had a friend drive me over to our med center, got x-rays, saw the doctor.

“So…what happened?” she asked.

“Well, I was backpedaling for a ball that was going over my head. I guess my feet got tangled up, and I jammed my left heel into my right toes.”

“Yep…that would do it,” she said. “I’m sorry to tell you that you have a not very macho injury. The good news is, it’s not broken. The bad news is, it’s fractured. The worse news is that there’s not a whole lot you can do about it except to let it heal.”

“You’ve fractured your right pinky toe. And the only thing you can really do for it is to tape your pinky toe to your ring toe, and over time, it’ll heal back together.”

I told you…not at all grisly or even a tough and cool story. It’s like, the lamest injury ever.

A fractured pinky toe…

So they did what’s called buddy taping, and taped my pinky toe to my ring toe, and I just had to endure through that discomfort for a couple of months. Which kinda sucks when you’re in marching band and having to march games every Saturday with a fractured pinky toe and two toes taped together.

In this case, the best treatment for this injury is to join the two digits together…even forcefully…and let time and persistence heal the injured digit by being joined to a healthy and strong digit.

Enter our Gospel. These verses from Matthew 18 often get lumped together and characterized as Guidelines for Church Discipline. They’re actually in our congregational and the ELCA Model Constitution under that heading: Church Discipline. Essentially saying that these are the steps that should be taken in the event of disagreement in the church, or when, as verse 15 says, when one member of the body of Christ sins against another member of the body of Christ.

Which, as we all know, never happens…right…?

Of course not. The community of faith is no different than our other communities and social spheres in that way. The community of faith is made up of people, the church is the people, and any time you have people involved, there are going to be disagreements, there are going to be strong feelings, and there will be some uncharitable thoughts…and some of those thoughts are certainly within the realm of what we would consider to be sinning against one another, right?

These verses occur in the midst of a whole section of teaching focused on forgiveness. Jesus knows that any time there are people involved there will be disagreements, and strong feelings and emotions, and differing and opposing perspectives, and certainly some uncharitable thoughts. Jesus says, “When this occurs…go to that person 1-on-1. If they won’t listen to you, take another person with you. If they still won’t hear your grievance, take it to the church as a whole.” Run it up the flagpole, essentially.

But notice here that the point is not to expel that person or write them off or cut them out of your life. “If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.” And even if they won’t listen to the whole church, let them be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector…which sounds a lot like cutting them out of your life…until you remember how Jesus treated Gentiles and tax collectors…

The goal, friends, is retention.

The goal is to live together in unity. Community. Amidst the divisions.

In this way, these verses aren’t about disciplining members of the body of Christ, but rather, what reconciliation looks like in the body of Christ. These verses aren’t a model for reproving one another, but rather how do we retain our relationships with one another amidst our disagreements and differing perspectives, and uncharitable thoughts.

Which is a really important thing in these times we’re in, church.

In the midst of a pandemic. In the midst of an election season. In the midst of so much stress and anxiety and pain…

Friends, you need to know…this is only going to get worse over the next 2 months. This division you’re feeling…that I’m feeling…it’s only going to ramp up. And become stronger. And more divisive.

And so we need to talk about reconciliation. About living together…well…amidst our differences.

Facebook introduced a new feature a few months ago. It’s called the snooze button. You can snooze anyone on your timeline for 30 days, and you don’t see their posts. You can also unfollow someone and you won’t see any of their posts ever. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve used this feature on some of my friends. It’s just good for my mental health. We can have our disagreements, but we need to be able to hold them well. We need to be able to talk about them.

My hope is still for a reconciled relationship, which really only comes through addressing the issues and having difficult conversations, but I’m just not so sure Facebook is the best venue for those. The church, on the other hand…a place where we all agree about a few central tenets…namely, God’s love for all of God’s creation, God’s grace given freely to you and me who are undeserving, and lastly, I firmly believe, we agree about our love for each other. At church, I don’t distrust your motivations or your feelings about me. I hope and I trust that you care for me and you love me and you want what’s best for me…just as I hope you trust those same things for yourself from me.

I believe that church is where we can have these difficult conversations because we trust that our relationships are built on love and care for one another.

We may not agree, but we can still live reconciled to one another amidst our divisions.

And especially in these times, we must always be reminding ourselves that God’s hope and God’s vision is for a reconciled world.

Which does not mean that everyone thinks the same way. But it does mean that God’s justice reigns and our love for one another remains the thing that draws us together amidst our differences.

And I think that’s really important to hear and to learn: The aim of the community of faith is reconciliation amidst differences.

And this is fundamentally different than what we experience in our world. And this makes what happens at church almost entirely opposed to our experiences elsewhere in the world. In every other aspect of our lives we experience division and vitriol and hatred…but the church—the community of faith—seeks to live well together amidst our differences.

The church doesn’t gloss over our differences…we aren’t the same. But the church should seek to find understanding within the myriad issues we’re confronted with.

That said, in some cases, agreeing to disagree is not the answer either. The community of faith is called to find understanding and find common ground. And as much as reconciliation is the goal, agreeing to disagree isn’t what we’re after. We’re seeking understanding.

There are times, particularly instances of injustice, where the church is called, and I believe where the church should, have an opinion and take a stance.

God is not without opinion in situations of injustice.

Check me on that. Read the Scriptures.

Every time, without question.

I want to say that again, and more clearly:

God is not without opinion in situations of injustice.

God is not without opinion on the oppression of God’s people.

Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, God uses the prophets to tell God’s people the difficult truth. God tells Ezekiel this morning, “Your responsibility is to tell my people of their wickedness and unless they change, they will die in their sinfulness.

Imagine how Ezekiel felt. Imagine how many of the prophets felt.

“Prophets are never welcomed in their hometown…” Remember Jesus’ words? Telling the truth isn’t received well. Especially when the truth is difficult to hear.

The prophet’s words are challenging. They make you uncomfortable. You disagree with them. You shut them off and tune them out. You refuse to hear what they want to tell you.

And…as I remember and reflect on my Ordination 4 years ago this past Thursday, I remember that I was charged—as we all are in our baptism—to work and strive for God’s justice in the world. I was called to preach the Gospel and to feed God’s people with God’s word of truth and justice.

God is not without opinion in situations of injustice.

God takes sides.

In situations of injustice, God absolutely takes sides.

This is difficult to hear…I realize…but I want to suggest that following God, following Jesus, isn’t a one way or the other…right? It isn’t a left or a right. It isn’t this way against that way… I believe that following Jesus and following God is a third way…a way that stands apart from the dichotomies we’re so used to.

So often we think that those who don’t believe like us are against us… “If you’re not with me, you’re against me” right? We know that kind of “us” vs. “them” language. We know that kind of divisiveness.

But in Mark and Luke, Jesus says to the disciples, “Whoever isn’t against you is for you.” Jesus rejects this idea of “us” vs. “them” and says, “You have more in common than you seem to think.”

I think the church is a place where we can uncover that commonality.

We’ll have to dig for it…it will take tough work and difficult conversations, but I believe it will be worth it.

I believe the church is a place where our broken and fractured parts can be bound up together in love, and through persistence and difficult work, where healing can happen.

Whatever you bind upon earth is bound up in heaven.

And where 2 or 3—especially broken members—are gathered together in Christ’s name…Christ, the great healer and great physician, is there among us.

Matthew 16:13-20

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the son of humanity is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 Jesus said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but God in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the dominion of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then Jesus sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

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Please pray with me this morning, church:

Healing God,

In a world with so many voices

Competing for our attention,

Rise above the noise.

Help us to hear your voice.

Help us to find our own voice

And give us words of love to speak

To help bind up our hurting world.

Amen.

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Back in February, maybe some of y’all will remember, I had a cough that I couldn’t kick. It was some sort of illness, you’ll remember that I refrained from serving communion for a few weeks, I also stopped shaking hands and instead offered my elbow at the door, but the cough persisted.

Even after I got feeling better, the cough stayed around for a total of, like, 2 months. It was maddening.

Oliver enjoyed it, though. After a week or so of not being able to control my cough, he started coughing, too. And we were concerned at first until his cough never became productive. And he wasn’t fussy or anything, just coughing. And then Tiffany noticed that he would only cough after I would cough. “I think he thinks it’s a game,” she said, “I think he’s just copying you.”

“Hold on a second,” I said, “Are you telling me that my 6-month old is making fun of me?”

“Yeah,” Tiffany said.

And it was just then that I realized how big of jerks kids can be.

But the biggest frustration out of the whole ordeal was on Sunday mornings when I would preach. I would have to pause way more than normal to take a drink of water, I’d have to stop to cough occasionally, I even doubled up on the cups of water I had with me in the pulpit. My voice was raspy and hoarse…I didn’t like it at all. I felt like it detracted from the message.

As a preacher, my voice is a vital part of my ministry. It’s my money-maker.

What is a preacher without their voice?

Many of you who are vocalists can relate. For some of you who have been paid to do what you do, it’s also your money-maker. For all of us, it’s one way we express our praise and thanks to God…by singing. For those who participate in choir, your voice is not only how you yourself worship, but how you assist in worship, how you help others worship, how you help facilitate worship for the assembly.

So really, who are any of us…without our voices?

This morning, I want to talk about finding your voice…

I’ve talked to a number of you in recent weeks, and a good number of you let me know how much you miss being in worship. I hear you. I do, too. We will worship together again. I promise you. This is temporary…even if it’s a much longer temporary than any of us ever thought it would be.

I promise you this will pass.

And in all of this, that’s been the biggest loss that weighs on my heart. I long to gather back together with you for worship. Lively, bright, jubilant, face-to-face, sharing peace with a hug, no maks, full-throated singing, loud voices…worship…

And we will get there… I promise. It’s not now, but we will get there.

I long to hear the Sanctuary full of voices again.

But right now, it feels like we’ve lost our voice.

And I want you to hear me, that’s ok. We’re going through a season right now and dealing with some things, and have lost our voice in the process…that’s ok.

Sometimes we need to give our vocal cords a rest. Right, singers?

But how do you find your voice again when you’ve lost it?

Or…how do you find a new voice…when you’ve lost your old one?

Zacchaeus is a familiar story for us. Probably mostly due to a certain song many of you learned in Sunday School. We have this idea about Zacchaeus, I think…we believe he was probably small, he had heard about Jesus and was so drawn to Jesus’ message that he comes out to see about this Jesus, climbs a tree, and finds himself with a dinner guest. All of which is not untrue.

But Zacchaeus was also a tax collector—the chief tax collector, the story from Luke notes—a detail oddly left out of our cute Sunday School song. I suppose it’s difficult to find a word that rhymes with “tax collector.” And here’s what you need to know about taxation in 1st-century Palestine: the people—the common people…Jewish, Gentile, Samaritan, Syrophoenician, didn’t matter—all people who lived in that area at that time—the area forcibly occupied and governed under Roman imperial rule—those people all paid taxes to Rome. And Jericho, like Jerusalem, a Jewish city, you also paid taxes to the temple, because those temples were also taxed by Rome and so they passed that tax on to the people. And the tax collectors were in charge of keeping track of and accounting for who had paid what to whom and making sure everyone was up to date. And if that’s your job, you’re not just a pass-through, right? Because you and your family have gotta eat and you have to earn your own livelihood because you have to pay your own taxes… So the people in 1st-century Palestine paid triple taxes. Everyone in that taxation process was trying to get their cut and the taxes keep getting passed down to those who can’t do anything about it except pay it.

The people were literally having their lives taxed away from them.

So yeah, Zacchaeus wasn’t very well-liked. Like, at all.

Similar to Matthew, the apostle, and follower of Jesus, they were hated by their own people. And Rome certainly didn’t care for them. The temple, the religious institution, saw tax collectors simply as tools. So if you were a tax collector, you were an outsider in your own community. Brushed aside, marginalized, ostracized, pushed to the fringes of society. Which, you know, is precisely where Jesus locates himself and his ministry.

And Zacchaeus has this kind of epiphany in his encounter with Jesus. Jesus shows him extraordinary hospitality. “Zacchaeus, come down, you’re hosting me for dinner.” Jesus sees Zacchaeus. And in this exchange, Zacchaeus radically shifts from a cog in the system, simply doing his job, to finding a new voice…one that gives to the poor and pays back what is owed. Zacchaeus becomes a champion for reparations here. Zacchaeus discovers something new about himself.

I think of our parents of our young ones during these extraordinary days. I think of parents who are also teachers, not just trying to manage their own virtual classrooms, but also trying to help their own kids make the best and learn the most with these unusual methods. I think of our young ones who, in any other time, would be meeting and making new friends and running up and hugging their old friends…I think of how their sociability and psychology will be affected by this. I think of the young people who aren’t able to log on for learning, due to any number of issues…no reliable internet, no stable housing situation, no device to use, no understanding of the communication of what’s expected of them during this time…

I want to say something in particular to you this morning.

If you’re a young person…if you’re a parent…if you’re a grandparent helping out with virtual learning…if you’re a teacher…if you’re an administrator……hear me.

You’ve lost your voice.

You’ve lost your voice.

And that’s ok.

You’ve lost your voice because the voice you’re used to having isn’t the voice that’s needed during this time.

Stop feeling like you have to have all this together and be totally rocking it. You don’t.

If you are, great! Work it! Go on with yourself! And maybe let the rest of us know how you’re doing it.

But if you’re not…do not be down on yourself.

You just gotta find a new voice.

And you have, right? You’ve waded into these new waters, with all kinds of uncertainty. You’re doing your best and that’s good enough. Be ok with good.

And celebrate the other ways you’ve found a new voice in this time.

How many of you picked up a new hobby during this pandemic? Any new sourdough fanatics?

How many of you read something new about a topic that made you uncomfortable?

How many of you learned a new perspective that you didn’t see before?

Church, at the beginning of this series, I told you that when we start unraveling things, it can get messy and uncomfortable. I told you that if you stuck with me, I promised that I would show you what transformation looks like. I implored you to lean into your discomfort, and hang in there with me because I promised you that if you endured through the discomfort, that you would experience transformation yourself.

I told you to hang in there. I said, “We are going to talk about this.” This conversation is too important to sweep aside or ignore.

What new voice have you found within yourself that you didn’t know you had before?

What new thing have you found the strength within you to say that you couldn’t before?

Peter’s declaration about Jesus was a new thing he didn’t know he had within him.

I like Peter in the Gospel narratives because Peter is us. Peter is me. Peter wants so badly to be the favorite. “Of course, Jesus…you’re the Messiah, the son of the living God!” Peter probably didn’t even know what those words put together in that way even meant. I think he probably picked up bits and pieces of it from things he heard Jesus say and just repeated it, trying to be right, trying to be the favorite. And then Jesus lavishes the praise on him… ”Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah…this was revealed to you by God…and I’m going to build my church with you as the base.”

Peter found his new voice.

But also remember that Peter’s new voice didn’t last all that long. In just a few short chapters, when things get tough and the temperature gets turned up, Peter’s tune will quickly change from “You are the Messiah.” to “I told you I’ve never met the guy.”

I told you…Peter is us.

Peter is me.

And still, when Peter denies Jesus…Jesus never denies Peter.

Jesus never takes back the bit about being the base of solid rock for the church.

Maybe there’s something to be said for the base of solid rock of the church to have a few rough edges or even a few cracks.

And this is the promise for you, too, beloved children.

You might be unsure about your new voice. If might feel strange to you. It might even change again in a few weeks when all these circumstances change. But that, too, will be an incredibly important voice.

We do find new voices.

I dare say, we aren’t meant to have the same voice our whole lives through.

Our voices are meant to change.

We are meant to grow. We are meant to change.

We are meant to be transformed, by God.

What does your new voice sound like?

The world needs to hear it.

Matthew 15:10-28

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” 12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” 13 Jesus answered, “Every plant that God has not planted will be uprooted.

14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to Jesus, “Explain this parable to us.” 16 Then Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
 21 Then Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23 But Jesus did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24 Jesus answered her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 Jesus answered her, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27 The woman said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

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Please pray with me this morning, church:

Healing God,

We are needy people.

Above all, we need measures of your love and care.

Give to us, even the crumbs…

All that you have promised.

That we might share even that with a starving world.

Amen.

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You’ve heard me mention before from this pulpit that the first time I ever wore my clerical collar was at a rally for marriage equality in downtown Chicago in 2013. It was a strange feeling, putting on a piece of clothing that held such importance for me for the first time while getting ready to put myself as an ally into a place and during a time that had such importance for so many people that I love so much. The whole moment had a heightened feeling of consequence. It was as if I understood in a much deeper way the weight and the heaviness and the significance my words and my actions have when I wear this collar.

I put my shirt on carefully and purposefully that morning.

I still take a little bit extra time and a little extra care every time I button up my clerical and put my collar on. I do so even prayerfully.

I’ve also mentioned before from this pulpit how I grew to really dislike parades. We grew up watching the big Thanksgiving Day parades in New York, but as a Texas band kid who had to march 4th of July parades in 100° heat and bowl game parades in college, I find very little redeeming about parades as a participant. Don’t get me wrong, parades are still nice to watch, I just don’t love marching in them. Although, I will admit that my experiences are fairly singular, so please don’t let my dislike of them sour you on parades if they’re your cup of tea. They’re just not mine.

So it’s a bit of surprise, then, that I would wear that same shirt with the same collar a few months later, the first weekend of June, at Chicago’s annual Pride Parade. Placing myself in a position to march alongside my colleagues and beloved friends, to do the thing that I had grown to greatly dislike. But also again putting my self and my body in a position of ally-ship with those friends and colleagues of mine that I love so very much and care for so deeply.

Ultimately, my love of my people, I hold dear far outweighed whatever residual disdain I may have still been carrying with me about parades.

Ultimately…it was love that won out.

It was important to me to demonstrate that I know and recognize that the church has done a tremendous amount of harm to the LGBTQIA2+ community, and showing up to march in Chicago’s Pride Parade as a person who, at that time was studying and learning to be a pastor, I was committing myself to apologize for the harm done by people and institutions that this collar represents, and I was demonstrating I would not be that kind of leader, nor would I lead that kind of church.

It was another holy moment for me. One filled with the same kind of gravitas and consequence I feel every time I wear my collar.

But then something else happened…

We started marching. The parade started.

And all of a sudden, I was swept up in pure joy and unashamed and unmeasured happiness and light and beauty and whimsy.

The energy was pulsing and the music was blaring, and everyone was caught up in this giant, magnificent, jubilant celebration.

It was completely beyond my ability to describe.

Pure joy.

And folks will tell you, and I can confirm in my own experiences, that every. single. Pride Parade everywhere is that same expression of exuberant and beautiful joy.

And what folks who know will also tell you…is that the first Pride didn’t have all the blaring music and bubbles and streamers and jubilation.

The first Pride was, quite literally, a riot.

On June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, a violent clash erupted between an excessively aggressive police force and LGBTQIA2+ individuals after an unannounced police raid went badly wrong and violence escalated between the police and the bar patrons.

And the very next year, 1970, the first Pride Parades took place in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Out of something so painful…out of so much hurt and grief…something beautiful was able to grow and flourish.

That’s a long lead-in, but our 2 readings from Genesis and Matthew both highlight what can happen when space is made for beauty to grow, especially from places of hurt and pain and ugliness and grief.

Sarah and Abraham were old, y’all. Like, much older than anyone in our congregation. Maybe you personally know someone who’s passed the century-mark. The point is, they were way past what would be considered to be child-bearing age.  And we know that Sarah herself, at least up until this point, hasn’t been able to have children. That’s why we have Abraham and Hagar, and Hagar gives birth to Ishmael.

So Sarah’s gone her whole life up to this point, carrying around this grief and this pain of not being able to have children. And you need to know that’s a deeply hurtful thing to weigh on your soul, especially for women. 1 in 8 couples in the US struggle with infertility. And that number is growing rapidly in recent years. It’s not uncommon at all. I know it’s a hurtful thing, because we, too, struggled with getting pregnant. (But we talked to our doctors, got a referral and some tests done, tried a few different things, and now we have a beautiful 1-year-old who’s…mostly…a joy to be around…he’s much more pleasant when he sleeps as long as he should…truthfully we’re all more pleasant when we get the sleep we need…) And look, I don’t want to gloss over it either. We sought help and we were lucky and we were very fortunate that it worked for us. There are some for whom it doesn’t work.

But what I found is that certainly in our joy, but most especially and most poignantly in our struggle, that God was there.

That’s probably the greatest gift of Lutheran understanding to our human condition—that God is most especially present in our times of struggle and hurt and pain—because God, in Christ, was crucified on a Roman cross. God died…so that we would be assured beyond a shadow of a doubt that God knows…God has felt…God has experienced…the deepest and the most painful parts of us humans.

So, it’s into the midst of this hurt and grief that Sarah’s carried around, and honestly, probably mostly reconciled with at this stage in her life…here comes God into the midst of this, bringing up old wounds and deep hurts, promising children. And so it’s no wonder Sarah chuckles to herself, honestly, it was probably more of a…*ppfffttt*…a dismissal of the whole thing. And honestly, if it were me, it’d probably be mixed with a little bit of anger at God for digging around in a wound that very well may have been scarred over at that point.

But the promise is made nonetheless. And later Sarah does give birth to Isaac.

Out of something so painful…out of so much hurt and grief…something beautiful was able to grow and flourish.

In our gospel reading, maybe you struggled with the words you heard come out of Jesus’ mouth. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel…it is not good or fair to take food from the children and give it to the dogs.” Did…did Jesus just call this woman a dog…?

Well…yes…truthfully… At least that what’s recorded as having been said, and the original Greek bears this out, so we’re not even saved there by a textual interpretation.

It’s important to know that, particularly in the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus very explicitly understands his ministry as singularly for the Jewish people. The gospel of Matthew was written to a predominantly Jewish community, so this was seen as good news. Jesus was a Rabbi, he never stopped being Jewish. “Christianity” wasn’t even a thing until 70 years after Jesus was crucified and raised. The Jesus movement was a reform movement within Judaism. Even Paul’s version of being a Christ-follower was understood as being within the constructs of Judaism. And it wasn’t until about the year 100, that Christ-believers in Antioch started calling themselves “Christians.”

Which is to say, that this Gentile woman from Canaan would have been outside the promises of God anyway. And if you remember your biblical history, you’ll remember that God gave the land of Canaan to the Israelites, and allowed the Israelites to conquer the Canaanites, and frankly, to murder them. And so the Israelites justified their horrible actions by saying it was God who approved of their plan, so how could it be wrong…but if you were a Canaanite, I bet you’d be pretty skeptical…

So when this Canaanite woman hears Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, calling her a dog, you can bet it ticked her off. But then she counters with this beautifully back-handed line… ”Yes, Lord…but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table…”

Give me a crumb, Jesus. Just a morsel.

My daughter is tormented…give us just a measure of what we’ve heard you can do.

And in this moment, Jesus is changed.

God changes God’s mind.

God, in Jesus, is human, after all…and as humans, we change. The Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney says, “To be human is to learn and grow and change, to open up our hearts and minds, expand our beliefs and relinquish our biases.” Jesus shares this with us.

Give me a crumb, Jesus. Just a morsel.

We’re not celebrating communion every Sunday during this pandemic, but we remember what a crumb, what a morsel, feels like in our hands. We know how sustaining, how healing, a crumb can be.

Jesus proves his own words in this gospel story, “It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of one’s mouth that defiles.” We would do well, I think, to watch what we say more carefully. Our tongues and our ways of speaking to one another get us in a lot of trouble.

And through her persistence, this woman’s daughter is released from her torment.

Out of something so painful…out of so much hurt and grief…something beautiful was able to grow and flourish.

In our Council Meeting this week, for our Devotional Time, I asked our Council to talk about when they encountered moments of joy or surprise or blessing during this time of pandemic, in recent months and weeks. What was interesting is that everyone was able to name where they had seen beauty springing up in the midst of so much uncertainty and loss.

There’s no shortage of grief and pain, hurt and loss, during this pandemic.

But I wonder where you’ve experienced joy and beauty.

Can you point to a time? Can you point to maybe a handful of instances?

We don’t always have eyes to see beauty and joy in the moment.

But what if we could learn how to be more attentive to it?

What if we could strive to see the world through those eyes of blessing, noticing even the crumbs and morsels of joy and happiness?

As we heard a couple of weeks ago, it may not seem like much more than a few crumbs of bread or some tiny little morsels of fish…but we heard what God can do with those…

Where have you seen beauty, church?

Where have you experienced joy in this struggle?

It’s there…even if it’s just the crumbs…