sermonoats: July 2024

Sunday, July 14, 2024

Bastille Day 2024

One of the most well known acts of political violence in history is remembered today in Paris. In 1789 on 14 July a mob released about eight people from a decrepit prison in the center of Paris. The building was then demolished. It was called the Bastille; today is Bastille Day.

Yesterday at noon the US secretary of state sent best wishes to the people of France, eighty years after the liberation of Paris and 75 years after the founding of NATO… and 235 years after the storming of the Bastille, which marks the beginning of the French Revolution.

Yesterday also a twenty-year-old man got to the top of a building near a political rally in Pennsylvania and shot his rifle at the former President. Mr Trump was hit in the top of the ear, and rushed to safety. One spectator was killed, two more seriously injured, and the Secret Service found and killed the shooter.
Between the 18th century and yesterday there were many acts of individual violence, gun violence, assassinations and attempted assassinations, of presidents, prime ministers, and many others. There have been revolutions, rebellion, wars, and riots.

Two thousand years ago two acts of political violence were committed that are connected in today’s gospel. King Herod ordered the death of the popular preacher John the Baptist. Later the Roman governor of Judea would order the death of John’s cousin, Jesus of Nazareth.

Both were killed in part because of political anxiety. Within decades the upheaval of rebellion after rebellion led to the demolition of Jerusalem. Of the Temple only a part of the western wall remains.
I do not equate any of these acts with another in specific motive, purpose, or result.

We can however know as people of God that acts of violence, gun violence, political violence, however motivated, are against the will of God.

As Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said last night, on Trump rally shooting:
"The way of love—not the way of violence—is the way we bind up our nation’s wounds. We decry political violence in any form, and our call as followers of Jesus of Nazareth is always to love. We pray for the families of those who were killed. We pray for former President Trump and his family and for all who were harmed or impacted by this incident. I pray that we as a nation and a world may see each other as the beloved children of God."

As the Psalm we sang today calls us to do,

Psalm 85:8-13

Benedixisti, Domine

8 I will listen to what the Lord God is saying, *
for he is speaking peace to his faithful people
and to those who turn their hearts to him.
9 Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, *
that his glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together; *
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth shall spring up from the earth, *
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 The Lord will indeed grant prosperity, *
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before him, *
and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

***

It is a call not to despair but to repentance. However dire the current situation, God is still extending a hand to humankind, stirring life and hope.

What is the Lord God saying?

Not to the people of the past, anymore, but to us. What shall we do in our current situation? What shall we do, facing eternity?

The Russian novelists of the 19th Century, in their great literature, asked the question, how are we to live?

It is not so different from the question people asked Peter, when he had baptized them: what do we do now?

Now what? is where we are now, where we always are, after the beheading of the Baptist, after the crucifixion of Jesus, after his resurrection and ascension, before the fullness of the kingdom of heaven is revealed in all its joyous power. Now what?

How are we to live - now? Or they asked Peter after Pentecost, what must we do?

Simple words, simple actions, in the telling of the gospels. Don’t cheat, don’t lie, don’t steal, give right weight and proper measure, share, look after the needy. Wait, but not just sitting around. Prepare by being ready, by getting into the habit, by living into the kingdom that is not yet - but whose citizens we already are.

Above and beyond and always questioning our earthly loyalties, to tribe or even family, is that divine calling, that allegiance unpledged, unbought, unvoted for, but ultimately demanding: the welcome undertow of the holy word, the joyous laughter of the Lord of mirth, the happy ending beyond all sorrow, that comes when we come to the Lord, and lay ourselves at his feet.

In our words and in our actions, together as a congregation, individually in our daily lives, and as citizens and people of common humanity, we are making positive steps toward inhabiting the kingdom of heaven that is coming into being.

This includes collective action as citizens and as assembled people of God.

This spring, United Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Episcopalians each gathered to discuss their future, enact resolutions, and elect leaders for a new era.

More people will vote around the world this year than ever before.

Americans are voting. Arizona voters have begun to make their choices. St Matthew’s is again a voting center.

And – despite all anxieties and threats to the contrary – the kingdom of heaven came ever closer and even showed itself in places. May it become ever more visible in our lives and the lives we touch. Amen.

Let us pray for all worried about or touched by political violence or its threat, that there be listening instead of reaction, compassion instead of anger, and seeking of peace instead of reaching for a sword.

Let us not seek to relieve anxiety in rash and harmful ways but live and act in the compassionate love to which we are always called.

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

July 14, 2014. JRL+

***

U.S. Department of State
Bastille Day
07/14/2024 12:01 AM EDT
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
On behalf of the United States of America, I extend my warmest wishes to the people of France as you celebrate Bastille Day.
France, our oldest Ally, holds a cherished place in American hearts. Our enduring relationship is built upon the shared values of democracy, human rights, and freedom. Together, we have faced the trials of two World Wars and have worked in unity to build a more prosperous and secure world.
As we navigate the challenges of the 21st century, our partnership remains strong and multifaceted. We commend France’s leadership in addressing global issues such as climate change, including through the Paris Agreement, and we appreciate our close cooperation on security matters in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific. Our united efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine and to combat the climate crisis underscore the depth of our collaboration.
This year marks significant anniversaries and milestones, including the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of France, the 75th anniversary of NATO, and France’s role as host of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We celebrate the sacrifices made by those who have fought for freedom and democracy and honor their legacy by continuing to work together to promote peace and prosperity.
Best wishes to the people of France for a joyous Bastille Day and a successful year ahead. Vive la France!
***
Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs

Sat, Jul 13 at 7:00 PM
Statement from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry on Trump rally shooting
"The way of love—not the way of violence—is the way we bind up our nation’s wounds. We decry political violence in any form, and our call as followers of Jesus of Nazareth is always to love. We pray for the families of those who were killed. We pray for former President Trump and his family and for all who were harmed or impacted by this incident. I pray that we as a nation and a world may see each other as the beloved children of God."
***

now what

What came to mind for me first on being asked to preach on July 14th was Bastille Day. Then I looked up the readings and noticed the infelicitous phrase “head on a platter” - one that I will not use blithely around in-laws whose ancestors escaped France in the face of the Terror - or didn’t.

In the gospel reading the beheading of Saint John the Baptist is not an enforcer’s work, unless you count heedless teenagers. Even the Lord’s Resistance Army in the east African jungle had to groom and train children to be soldiers. Here the queen’s daughter just seeks to please her.

What a ghastly family. But that is hardly the point. How less ghastly are the people who shout, crucify! or the governor who washes his hands of the whole business. or the people who make money off it, or jeer, or gape blankly, as the man with the cross, John’s cousin, is led to death.

Amos in the first reading delivers the unwelcome news that there will not be a second Passover, no exemption for the people of Israel this time, as God passes judgment on the unholy of the world. That is what “I will never again pass them by'' means. No more passing over. Just as the spiritual, recalling the flood of Noah, warned, No more water; the fire next time. (2 Peter 3:7)

“God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water but the fire next time.” https://blog.adw.org/2018/06/fire-next-time-meditation-second-letter-peter/

“But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.” (2 Peter 3:7, NRSV)

What Amos does is prophesy, and forewarn of the coming exile of the people of Israel, –the northern kingdom,– soon to be overrun by then-powerful Assyria, a neighbor to the north.

All this cleansing is in response to sin. Pretty harsh punitive measure, or pretty clear warning of consequences. The point is - though ignored by the hearers of John the Baptist - REPENT!

“Turn back O man forswear thy foolish ways,” as they sing in Godspell.

But the invitation is more positive and joyful than these words and worries would suggest.

Look at the psalm we sing or say in response to Amos:

Psalm 85:8-13 Benedixisti, Domine

It is a call not to despair but to repentance. However carbon soaked the atmosphere, however dire the current situation, God is still extending a hand to humankind, stirring life and hope.

The composer Armand Russell, my fellow bass in the choir at St Patrick’s, Kenwood, set the psalm to music, on the occasion when - one of the occasions when - the United States was about to go to war in the Middle East.

Were we doing the right thing? (The president, a Methodist son of an Episcopalian father, certainly sounded confident that we were.) Were we listening? What is the Lord God saying?

Not to them, anymore, but to us. What shall we do in our current situation? What shall we do, facing eternity?

The Russians of the 19th Century, in their great literature, asked the question, how are we to live? In a more awkward form, the 20th Century American Evangelical speaker Frances Schaeffer IV lectured and wrote on the topic, How should we then live? : the rise and decline of western thought and culture. I can tell you it was quite a ride. All my cohort of Christian friends were there hanging on his words, and I wrote them down feverishly, and then forgot them.

But the question of the Russians remains: how are we to live? It is not so different from the question people asked Peter, when he had baptized them: what do we do now?

There’s an old Robert Redford movie, The Candidate, where he plays a young idealist running against an old political pro, mostly to speak up for what he believes, and when he is unexpectedly elected, he turns to his campaign svengali and asks, now what?

How are we to live - now? Or as people asked Peter, what must we do?

Above and beyond and always questioning our earthly loyalties, to tribe or even family, is that divine calling, that allegiance un-pledged, un-bought, un-voted for, but ultimately demanding: the welcome undertow of the holy word, the joyous laughter of the Lord of mirth, the happy ending beyond all sorrow, that comes when we come to the Lord, and lay ourselves at his feet.

This includes collective action as citizens and as assembled people of God.

This spring, United Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Episcopalians each gathered to discuss their future, enact resolutions, and elect leaders for a new era.

Arizona voters began to make their choices; St Matthew’s is again a voting center.

And the kingdom of heaven came ever closer and even showed itself in places. May it become ever more visible in our lives and the lives we touch. Amen.

For the Episcopal Church of Saint Matthew, Tucson.

14 July 2024

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

http://edgeofenclosure.org/proper10b.html

Sunday, July 7, 2024

Ruth 4 : wear sandals

https://www.levasiondessens.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/fiancee-.jpg

Mark 6:6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Not much of a welcome-home for Jesus. Who is this guy to tell us what is what? Who does he think he is? We know his family! Or do they?

Who are Jesus’ family? Those who do the will of God.

What we have learned from the story of Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, and the Bethlehem community, is that family - and community - can be fluid and flexible, and belonging can begin with something other than familiarity, ancestry, or common origin. We see people acting on the basis of a larger community, a family of faith, we tend to call church, or the people of God. That, I think, is who Jesus is seeking out: in this passage and others. “Who are my mother and brothers and sisters? Those who keep my Father’s commandments.” (cf. Mark 3:35)

Who is doing the will of God: his family. How do we become his family?

Individually? Are we born with it? This is easy to answer if we think faith is something we keep to ourselves, some sort of membership card that can be flashed to collect benefits or enjoy discounts. But becoming part of God’s family is more than a private individual matter: it involves ourselves in humankind. Human. Kind. Not always those we have known from birth, or growing up; sometimes total strangers or people we won’t even know. Whoever they are, ‘family’, those who do the will of God, are kin to me and you.

So how extraordinary it was that Jesus was not welcomed home with more joy. Except possibly for what he had to say, and what he was going to do. From his hometown, he set out once more on his mission, and commissioned messengers, we call apostles, to spread out - and to move fast - to get the message out, too.

And what was that message? Good news! Turn, turn around, and make your way from the land of sadness, exclusion, them vs. us, cruelty, idolatry, into a new life, a new community, a new world. The kingdom of God, the reign of compassion and mercy, are at hand, right here among you: see the signs of wonder that warn you. It is here. Step into it; live it and believe it.

And, as they say in Doctors without Borders,

COMPASSION HAS NO BOUNDARIES.

In some ways the story of Ruth is an early warning of this in-breaking kingdom of joy: we are learning, and the people of Israel around her are learning, that the reign of God does not depend on an earthly sovereign or dominion power over others. It depends on power with - not over - others. It comes out of mercy and kindness, compassion and forgiveness. And it is strong. Strong as death, as the psalm says, and on its way, even already among us, at hand.

Was Ruth a prophet? Ruth bore in her own person a prophetic message as her presence revealed more about God: God was at work in the world bringing people together beyond kinship groups or survival alliances for a holy and great purpose.

I was thinking about how people are related as family and remembered…

When I was a file clerk at the EPA Region IX office in San Francisco, I came across correspondence regarding a new water treatment plant to be sited near Grass Valley, California. The correspondence was stamped in bright red letters: HANDLE AS PRESIDENTIAL. The first item in the file was a letter from one Ruth Milhous, to her nephew Richard, complaining about what she had heard would be a ‘cesspool’ near her house. It was signed, “Aunt Ruth.” And to the letter was attached a note, “She really is his Aunt Ruth.” Subsequent correspondence politely reassured her of the facts of the matter. (It’s a modern wastewater treatment facility, not an open, stinking cesspool.) The takeaway is this, of course: She really was his Aunt Ruth. She was family.

In our story, which concludes today (aw gee!) …wait, not entirely: because Ruth really is his great-grandmother; ‘him’ being David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz and Ruth.

Before we go on there is that zany custom of theirs, closing a deal with a sandal…

“Now this was formerly done in Israel in cases of redemption or exchange: to validate any transaction, one party would take off a sandal and hand it to the other. Such was the practice in Israel. So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Acquire for yourself,” he drew off his sandal.” (Ruth 4:7-8, JPS/2023)

(And thus Boaz took on the responsibility of the next-of-kin, and of a husband.)

This is not the deal we might expect from the later arrangement of the levirate marriage, where refusing to raise up kin to the deceased caught the response of a shoe in the face. That was a gesture of disgust and contempt. Happier times for Boaz and his cousin. It was simply an acknowledgment of the exchange: who was going to act as next-of-kin, as redeemer, for Ruth and Naomi and the late Elimelech and Mahlon.

One who had once been outside, a stranger, had become family indeed. Two isolated, lonely women had been welcomed into the embrace of a whole city. From widowhood they become mother and grandmother. But we have already noticed how Naomi referred to her daughter-in-law as ‘my daughter’ and even Boaz, Naomi’s kinsman, began by addressing her as ‘my daughter.’

She was what we call ‘married in’ but was hardly an outsider - following the laws and customs of that ancient time, family ties that had been frayed by famine and death were strengthened. The Lord, the hidden player in this drama, had been at work throughout, and the hand of God is now revealed in the way that what was small and unpromising, the remnant of the broken family of Elimelech, had been redeemed and welcomed into something great and flourishing, that will become the forebears of the family of David. Small beginnings, greater ends, seems to be the MO of our God.

Acting into the kingdom of heaven and making it real in our actions on earth, becoming like Ruth and Naomi steadfast comforters and hope-bearers, and claiming God’s way of compassion as our own - bring us into the story: we are now the people of God, who welcome and are welcomed in turn; thus giving the world around us a foretaste of the kingdom of heaven.

Two lonely widows: does that look like the start of a kingdom? A small act of kindness: will that change the world? Perhaps it does, perhaps it might.

“...for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b)

Compassion knows no boundaries.

How do we expand ours?

In some ways the answer may be as obvious as next door. New neighbors, while the noise of construction may not be soothing to the ears, may mean a new set of friends, and certainly of people to whom to offer a welcome.

In the old days in Russia a new neighbor was greeted with bread and salt. I haven’t seen that yet, here, but I have seen invitations extended and received, to getting-to-know you gatherings.

Beyond that sort of step, – and by the way, no strings attached: we cannot ask them to walk our dogs or join our committees, just yet anyway! – there are broader ways to spread the good news of the kingdom and to live into it. The acts of compassion symbolized and exemplified by food banks, clothes closets, soup kitchens, children’s clinics, and the other ministries of the church and the community around us, are part of that good-news spreading. They show that the kingdom is coming; it is already beginning.

Kingdom. Funny word. It usually brings up the image of a guy in a crown, or a woman waving to a crowd. But the kingdom of heaven is not that; it is more than that, and oddly less: there is no need for a crown. There is only need for compassion. Mercy. Kindness. Forbearance. Loving kindness. When you have those cooking the real kingdom is on its way. Let us rise up and welcome it.

Sermon Series: Ruth at Santa Cruz Lutheran Church, Tucson, Arizona. The Rev. Dr. John Leech.

July 7 ELW #676 “Lord Speak to Us that We may Speak”

First Reading: Ruth 4. Psalm: Psalm 127.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10. Gospel: Mark 6:1-13.

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

She really is his Aunt Ruth

For Sunday, July 7th 2024, at Santa Cruz Lutheran Church, Tucson.

I was thinking about how people are related as family and remembered…

When I was a file clerk at the EPA Region IX office in San Francisco, I came across correspondence regarding a new water treatment plant to be sited near Grass Valley, California. The correspondence was stamped in bright red letters: HANDLE AS PRESIDENTIAL. The first item in the file was a letter from one Ruth Milhous, to her nephew Richard, complaining about what she had heard would be a ‘cesspool’ near her house. It was signed, “Aunt Ruth.” And to the letter was attached a note, “She really is his Aunt Ruth.” Subsequent correspondence politely reassured her of the facts of the matter. (It’s a modern wastewater treatment facility, not an open, stinking cesspool.) The takeaway is this, of course: She really was his Aunt Ruth. She was family.

In our story, which concludes today (aw gee!) …wait, not entirely: because Ruth really is his great-grandmother; ‘him’ being David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz and Ruth. (The story will go on: turn the page and you are reading about the end of the time of judges and the beginning of the time of kings, in the first book of Samuel.)

One who had once been a stranger had become family indeed. But we have already noticed how Naomi referred to her daughter-in-law as ‘my daughter’ and even Boaz, Naomi’s kinsman, began by addressing her as ‘my daughter.’

She was what we call ‘married in’ but was hardly an outsider - following the laws and customs of that ancient time, family ties that had been frayed were strengthened, and the Lord, the hidden player in this drama, had been at work throughout, now revealed in the way that what was small and unpromising had been redeemed into something great and flourishing. Small beginnings, greater ends, seems to be the MO of our God.

https://www.pubhist.com/works/09/large/rembrandt_boaz_ruth.jpg

June 16 ELW #681 “We Plow the Fields and Scatter”(Wir pflugen)

First Reading: Ruth 1

Psalm: Psalm 146

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 [11-13] 14-17

Gospel: Mark 4:26-34

June 23 ELW #597 “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”

First Reading: Ruth 2

Psalm: Psalm 147

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Gospel: Mark 4:35-41

June 30 ELW #612 “Healer of Our Every Ill” -

or ELW #733 "Great Is Thy Faithfulness"

First Reading: Ruth 3

Canticle: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Gospel: Mark 5:21-43

July 7 ELW #676 “Lord Speak to Us that We may Speak”

First Reading: Ruth 4

Psalm: Psalm 127

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Gospel: Mark 6:1-13

First reading is from the Revised English Bible [REB] (Cambridge/Oxford, 1989).