Show the Way

 

We are undergoing a type of revolution here in the United States. The "Supreme" Court's decision in the Callais case out of Louisiana, stripping away the final portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has led to a cavalcade of Southern state legislatures hastily redrawing their Congressional districts in an effort to disenfranchise black voters. 

Blacks tend to vote for Democrats, and the Republican Party is desperate to use any means possible to stop the inevitable thrashing they're about to get in the wake of this horrid regime and its greed and grift at the expense of working people.

On Saturday, May 16th, thousands assembled in Montgomery, Alabama for All Roads Lead to the South. This was a rally to motivate all people of goodwill to stand up and fight for the rights of black and brown people to have their voices count at the ballot box this election year. I had really wanted to go, but having done so much driving lately...and the prospect of having to do seven hours round trip to Montgomery and then have the energy to drive back and forth to Valdosta the next day....nope. The spirit was willing but the flesh said, "Are you nuts?!"

But the evil being done in state legislatures, and my own grief still present at the loss of friends, was very much on my mind as I read through the scriptures assigned for this Sunday after the Ascension. Rather than isolated one pericope, I found that the Spirit was drawing on pieces and parts from three of the four.

See what you think.

Texts: Acts 1:6-14; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11

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I recently reconnected with an old colleague and friend from my days working in radio.

In our back-and-forth exchange…she shared with me an interview she had done with her husband for the StoryCorps program.

StoryCorps is an independent audio production company that travels the country by silver bus.

They set up shop… usually for a couple of weeks in a location… and offer to record people who want to share their stories about anything…and then StoryCorps distributes a copy of the recording to the participants.

The originals are housed at the National Archives in DC.

Some of those recordings are also played on National Public Radio on Friday mornings.

My friend had signed up with her husband to meet with StoryCorps when they came to her city.

And they reminisced about how they met.

As part of their discussion… they talked about death.

He was much older than she was…so the presumption was that he was going to die first.

He told her that when he died…he wanted her to be happy…and to do whatever things would make her happy.

“But what if I’m not going to be happy when you’re gone?” she asked.

“Well, you’re going to have to figure that out, kiddo.”

He did die…about six years ago.

And my friend is still striving to figure it out…and to find happiness in a life without her beloved.

Grief…and the sense of a profound loss…of a spouse…a lover…a job…or even fundamental rights…can plunge us into a liminal space.

The world keeps spinning on its axis…but we don’t feel as though we’re traveling at the same speed as everyone else.

It’s that odd time of knowing that something has ended…and yet we are stumbling our way toward the beginning of something new.

That’s the place where we find the disciples right now…as we move from the season of Easter…and the joyfulness of the resurrection… and head toward Pentecost…and the next act in God’s dream for the world.

This past Thursday…the fortieth day after Easter…we marked the Feast of the Ascension…which we heard about this morning in the Book of Acts.

Jesus’s time on earth has come to an end…and like the prophet Elijah…he is lifted up and away… to take his seat at the right hand of God.

Our Gospel lesson from John this morning recalls Jesus’s concluding prayer for his friends…a final appeal to God to watch over them…be with them…protect them from the storms of life that will come their way.

Jesus has done all he could do in his time on earth.

Now it’s their turn to figure it out.

It’s also our turn.

As we have listened to these words of Scripture today…and over the past many weeks…months and years of our lives…we’ve been given countless lessons in how to live into Love.

All the prayers…the hymns that we sing…and this meal that we share at this table…they’re all meant to reinforce and remind us that we already have the tools in our proverbial toolbelts to do the sometimes frustrating…and yet important and joyful work of repairing the breeches in the world around us…loving our neighbors…no matter who they are…in the way that we want to be loved…cared for…and treated.

We heard Jesus’s prayer in John’s Gospel…but Luke’s account of the ascension gives us some more color around that moment with disciples as he left them for the last time.

Luke tells us that Jesus spent his last hour opening their minds to understanding the Scriptures…connecting the dots between the prophets of the Old Testament…and everything he had shown and taught them.

And just before he ascended into heaven…he was offered them a blessing.

But rather than being in despair…Luke says Jesus’s friends “returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy.”

Not moping.

Not handwringing.

They were overwhelmed with joy.

That’s such an interesting observation.

And yet it makes sense.

Because something had shifted in them.

Deep in their hearts they understood that this ending of Jesus’s earthly ministry wasn’t an end….like “Well, that’s over!”

No, his spirit…his words…his mission was with them…and in them…in the same way that it’s within us.

We are the new hands and feet and mouths of Jesus.

That’s really good news…especially as we face the challenges that are before us.

The author Anne Lamott used a phrase in a recent Substack article that resonated with me, “Life is getting so much lifeier than I was prepared for.” (“Gold” from Hallelujah Anyways, May 2, 2026 on Substack).

She was writing about all the things happening at the global level of life as we know it: wars…billionaires using and abusing people and systems…and…while she didn’t name this one… I would add to her list the breakneck speed at which Southern state legislatures are undoing all the heavy lifting of the civil rights movement.

Add to those troubles…the more personal things that affect us: the surgeries…the troubling diagnosis…the death of loved ones. And Lamott says, “that’s more lifeier than I was prepared for.”

But even with those realities that sometimes can come at us in rapid fire succession…we aren’t hopeless when we remember and return to the root of our being: the Love of God that is in us…with us…and around us always.

That’s what our Epistle reading from the First Letter of Peter is driving at.

Peter acknowledges that ordeals will test and challenge us.

We are going to face health crises…and bad days at work…and gerrymandered political maps that deepen the rifts between us…and make us turn on one another.

As Peter so aptly put it: “Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8b)

But when such trouble arises…we must resist it…and stay steadfast in our faith.

One of my favorite theologians…Howard Thurman…wrote that “the evilness of evil isn’t about destroying the body or reducing cities to rubble;

Its real target is to corrupt the spirit and give the soul the contagion of inner disintegration.” (Thurman, Essential Writings, quoting The Meditations of the Heart, 110-111).

Now.... I admit…when something big has happened that makes it seem as if the ground beneath my feet is shifting every which way…I find it hard to remember to slow down…and as Peter says “Humble myself,” meaning…enter that prayerful place… and lean on God to seek help.

Or…more accurately…I get so caught up in my own mental wrestling that I forget that God is waiting and ready to remind me of those things that I already have learned.

So when I have finally have worn myself out with my thrashing…I ask for God’s guidance…and taking some deep breaths…I make my plea to the Holy One:

To tell me again those truths…that the real nature of God is love.

And Love is stronger than hate.

Help me to hear those words… so that it fills my heart and mind with balm of God’s peace.

Ground me in the goodness that is always there…

Open my eyes to take in the wonder of God’s artistry in the rising and setting of the sun and the song of the birds in the trees.

And with my soul now calm and the noise in my head quieted down…again show me the way so that I may help lead others with strength…courage…and kindness…so that I may

not be a stumbling block to those seeking the freedom that comes from God’s love.

As Pentecost draws near may our hearts and minds be primed as we seek God’s peace…and hope…so that we’re ready to do the work of Love that’s before us.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.

What Are You Looking For? A Sermon for 2 Epiphany Year A

It felt as if there were several directions I could have gone with this sermon. But the line "What are you looking for?" wouldn't leave me alone. And, just to make it a little more fun, I did a demonstration of the way I generally walk into a room...look around cluelessly... until the question "What are you looking for?" from Isabelle. 

It also opened some room to talk about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on this, what would have been his 94th birthday. 

Texts: Isaiah 49:1-7; Ps.40: 1-12; John 1: 29-42

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Prayer: God be in our heads, God be in our hearts, God be on our lips, and may God’s Word be heard. Amen.

“What are you looking for?”

If your households are anything like mine, this is one of the most common questions getting asked.

And it usually looks something like this… (demonstrate walking around, puzzled, looking high and low)

Typically…what are we looking for?
Glasses.

Purse.

Phone.

Am I right?

 

“What are you looking for?”

In John’s Gospel… these are the first words we hear Jesus speak.

Prior to this…we have that beautiful prologue…where John does a remix of the opening lines of Genesis to tell the story of the Word made Flesh coming into the world and dwelling among us.

Now we have John’s version of what happened at the River Jordan with Jesus’ baptism.

These past couple weeks…we’ve heard Matthew’s telling of the story. We’ve seen John the Baptist out there on the river bank...first as a firebrand screaming at the Sadducees and Pharisees and then as a somewhat confused but compliant participant in Jesus’ baptism. 

Today… John the Baptist recounts what he saw as he brought Jesus up out of the water.

He tells his disciples, “I didn’t know this one, but God had told me that I was going to know who is the one when I see the Holy Spirit descend and remain with him. And then…wouldn’t you know?!… it happened! The Holy Spirit descended like a dove and remained over this guy. He’s it! He’s the Lamb of God! This is the one I’ve been telling y’all was coming!”

John is basically telling his followers, “Go on! I’ve done my part. You must now go after Jesus!”

We’re seeing a passing of the torch. John the Baptist knows that it’s time for him to step back and give way to Jesus to be the leader.

And so, John’s disciples…including Andrew and Peter…go off to follow Jesus.

And Jesus… realizing that he’s suddenly picked up some traveling companions… turns to them and—in good Rabbinic fashion—asks a question:

“What are you looking for?”

Interestingly…what the disciples do is to ask another question:

“Rabbi, where are you staying?”

And Jesus…again doesn’t give them a direct answer…but instead gives them the invitation

“Come and see.”

It’s a very curious exchange…

What the heck are they looking for?

We might get a clue if we go behind our English translation and check the Greek translation of these lines.

In the Greek… the verb John the Baptist uses to describe the Holy Spirit’s descent and “remaining with” Jesus is the verb “meno.”

“Meno” can mean remain, to stay, to be present with.

So when the disciples ask where Jesus is staying… the verb used again is “meno.”

Meno can also mean “abide”

So it will be the verb of choice much later in John’s Gospel as Jesus tells his disciples to be like the branches on the vine and “abide” in him.

By abiding in him… those branches will bear much fruit.

What is it about this one… this person in whom the Holy Spirit abides… remains… meno?

Do they follow after him just because John the Baptist says so?

My guess is that for Andrew and Peter… and maybe for you and certainly for me… what pulls us in and makes us want to seek out Jesus cannot necessarily be put into words.

Mostly because words sometimes feel empty or inadequate.

There’s something about Jesus… the way he lives and moves and his being… that is attractive.

Maybe it’s because his life and mission is one that speaks to integrity.

His is a life that we can see is closely tied to the servant song we heard this morning in Isaiah.

Just like the servant… Jesus’ life is a response to that call to bring light to the nations and empower and lift up those who have been despised and abhorred.

It’s a life and mission that has motivated and provided comfort and strength to so many who have dared to take a stand for the have-nots in the face of the powerful haves of the world.

This weekend… our nation honors the life and struggle of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior.

Every school child in the United States by now has learned something about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s.

Many will quote Dr. King’s words from his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.

But many of those same people will have little clue that Dr. King… the Reverend Dr. King… employed a rhetorical device in that speech derived from the source of his strength: Jesus.

King’s beautiful oratory about a dream where all people… white men and black men…Jews and Gentiles… Protestants and Catholics… could proclaim the words “free at last” has its foundation in the Gospel.

We’ll be hearing in a few weeks the teachings of Jesus as he delivered his Sermon on the Mount.

Dr. King patterned his “I Have a Dream” address on those words.

That became clear to me when I was in a philosophy class in college.

Our professor had assigned us to read King’s speech and then look at the Jesus’ words from the Gospel of Matthew.

Jesus recognizes the wrongs done against the people of God… the indignities and the oppression of the Roman Empire.

But he also redirects that hurt and anger toward a resolve to remain steadfast in Love.

King’s speech also acknowledges the promises that the nation had made to African Americans that were unfulfilled.

But like Jesus… he encouraged holding the nation accountable through Love not violence.

As Dr. King said in that speech, “Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”

King placed his trust in the Lamb of God.

King’s dream was in line with God’s dream.

And during the times when Dr. King was sometimes at his greatest doubt about his ministry of social justice… it was that deep-seated faith in him that kept him going… kept him marching… kept him praying for a day when we would all finally see each other as the beloved children of God that we are.

His dream…which is God’s dream… hasn’t been realized yet.

But it’s also not lost.

“What are you looking for?”

Perhaps on this weekend we should consider that question.

Are we looking for a champion for goodness?

For justice?

For righteousness?

Are we looking for a spiritual guide?

For peace?

It’s tempting to answer that question right away.

I encourage us to pay attention to the words of the psalmist and wait patiently on that question.

Take the bulletin insert home if you’re so moved… and pay attention to the readings during these next several weeks during  this “After The Epiphany” period.  

Consider what it is that we might be looking for from Jesus…from the church… and from ourselves.

Let that question linger…and see where it leads.

What are you looking for?

Come and see what is this next step in this journey with God.

In the name of God…F/S/HS.

 

 

Finding the Blessing in the Woe: A Sermon for All Saints' Sunday, Year C

Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity 
By Anonymous - http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Images/ii2736&4000.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20576321

For all the saints who from their labors rest... 

St. Barnabas again celebrated All Saints with committing and interring ashes instead of baptizing people. It was good to give a measure of closure to a family, while also commemorating the place of the saints in our lives as those who are still with us...even if we don't see them any more. 

The Gospel was Luke's version of the Beatitudes. It was interesting to me to consider the blessing of being persecuted as a "saintly quality." And then I remembered my first church history lesson in seminary. 

And thus begins this sermon for All Saints' Sunday, Year C....

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Texts for the Sunday: Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149; Eph. 1:11-23 Luke 6:20-31

Prayer: O God, open our ears that we might hear you; open our eyes that we might see you; open our hearts to the wonders of your love. Amen.

 

As I was studying our Gospel…with Jesus giving us a litany of blessings and woes…and thinking about this being our celebration of All Saints Day… I was reminded of two of our very earliest holy women: Perpetua and Felicity.

Who are they? I’ll tell you!

They were two women of the third century … who faced persecution and were martyred for being Christians in the time of Roman oppression.

Perpetua is the one we know the most about because she kept a diary of her ordeal.

Both she and Felicity were pregnant and gave birth in prison and surrendered their children to family members to raise and care for them. Perpetua’s father kept pleading with her to renounce her beliefs, but she refused. She had visions while in prison… a little like a reading from Daniel… where she felt confirmed in her faith in Christ and her rejection of the demands of Roman society. Perpetua was supposed to devote her life to caring for her father. Instead…she was devoted her life to Christ.

Eventually, she and Felicity and the other Christian martyrs were brought to the amphitheater, whipped by gladiators…and then the Romans unleashed a boar, a bear, a leopard and a wild cow to attack them. An editor finished Perpetua’s diary…noting that after the wild beasts had had their way with the Christians… these Christians gave each other a kiss of peace as soldiers stabbed them with swords. Perpetua’s executioner was apparently new on the job and not very skilled… so she reportedly took his weapon and helped him…with joy… to slash her neck. And the story ends with extolling the virtues of these early martyrs of Christianity.

Such an account of a life certainly leaves one to ponder the meaning of “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.”! (Lk.6:22)

At the Inquiry class on Wednesday night, a question came up about saints and the meaning of saints. Do we worship saints?

The short answer is “No, we don’t worship them. We look to them as examples of a life well-lived in a Godward direction that we should learn about and then emulate.”

Fortunately, we aren’t living in a time and place where we’re jailed for our Christianity.

And—thanks be to God—we don’t have to worry about being fed to wild animals as sport for the masses to show our faithfulness to Jesus.

But what we can take from a story of two women such as Perpetua and Felicity is an example of remaining faithful and sticking close to the Source of our faith even when all the odds are stacked against us and there is enormous pressure for us to turn away from our faith.

That tension still exists in our world today in big and small ways.

Election season always seems to bring out the worst in us.

I was once asked how the state legislature in Florida might address the problem of bullying in schools.

“Well,” I said, “We might start with the political ads y’all run during the campaigns. Kids see their political leaders mocking and attacking each other; what do you think they’re going to do in school?”

(I was never invited back to participate in such public policy discussions again).

We didn’t hear this part today…but Jesus’ address to the crowd with these blessings and woes was delivered “on the plain.”

In Matthew’s version, they’re with him on the mountain.

But here in Luke…Jesus is on the level with everybody…laying out the Beatitudes.

How do we take what Jesus says here?

Some have read these words as saying that things will be so much better for those who are poor, hungry, and weeping when they die and go to heaven.

Your life is terrible on earth; it will be so happy when you’re dead.

I don’t believe that’s what Jesus is saying.

What we must remember…especially since this is Luke’s Gospel: Jesus IS the poor, the hungry, the weeping.

Jesus is talking in the present moment… both his and ours.  

Jesus is a member of the oppressed… and occupied… Jewish people living under the rule of the Roman Empire.

These words…which seem so contradictory to logic… are a way to remind his disciples… both the ones who were with him in the First Century Palestine… and those of us still following him in the 21^st Century… that God is with those who are facing the powers and principalities hard at work to undermine the confidence in Love.

Jesus is with us…especially the “us” being pushed aside.

One man who knew this well was the 20^th Century theologian Howard Thurman.

Thurman is among my favorite religious thinkers. He wrote several books…his most well-known one is called “Jesus and the Disinherited.” The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. carried it with him everywhere he went.

It contained the basic ideas that would become King’s non-violent approach to the Civil Rights Movement.

Thurman had seen and experienced racism growing up in Daytona Beach, Florida. Because he was black, there was no school for him to attend beyond the seventh grade. But Thurman was determined. He was home-schooled with the help of a school principal.

He completed and passed eighth grade and went on to live with a family member in Jacksonville where he attended Florida Baptist Academy. He graduated from Morehouse College and earned his seminary degree…and would go on to start the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco.

Thurman’s vision was to create a worship space where all people--white, black, brown, Asian—could come together in the presence of God…and through God…discover the common bond that weaves us altogether.

The church had challenges.

There were disagreements.

But it is still in existence today.

No amount of racism or bigotry or obstacles thrown in his way would stop Thurman from pursuing the dream of building Beloved Community in the still very segregated era of 1940s America.

Thurman drew his strength and determination from his deep belief in Jesus as one who knew what it was to be a disinherited.

A person for whom society was determined to keep down and press their back against a wall.

And Thurman saw how Jesus answered the hate of his day by remaining doggedly committed to acting out of a place of Love.

And so he made that same commitment.

While Thurman is not in our pantheon of Episcopal saints… his is a life such as his that one can look to and see how the light of Christ burned brightly in him.

That same light exists in each one of us.

We can live lives worthy of emulating.

We may never start a church… or go to our deaths proclaiming our faith in Christ in the face of a bitter enemy.

We can see the anger and the hurt and discord in our world…and face it with a spirit of mercy…compassion… and love.

Blessed are you who risk ridicule from the world to remain steadfastly on the side of Love.  In the name of God…F/S/HS.

Striving Toward the Joy of Beloved Community

 

 

At this point it goes without saying that all of my sermons for the next several weeks, months, and possibly years will be primarily for the congregation at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Valdosta, GA. My tenure at Christ the King has come to an end. This is also my last weekend as the "Deacon in Charge" at St. B. On Saturday, January 22nd, I will become their "Priest in Charge." Much rather be a PIC than a DIC. LOL!

I had probably a hundred different thoughts and ideas and musings about what I could say about the Gospel story of the wedding at Cana and Jesus' first recorded miracle. Thinking about it being MLK, Jr. Day weekend pushed me to consider not just the Gospel lesson, but the reading from Isaiah in which the prophet calls on God to make good on the promises made to Israel, while delivering a message of uplift to a bunch of people who have been kicked in the teeth and scattered all over the place. What follows is how I married these two passages with their "wedding" imagery. 

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There are two ways to know when a party is over: one is that the music stops. The other is when they run out of refreshments…and in the world of adults…I’m talking about the wine.

And that’s what’s at stake here in the scene from our Gospel.

There’s a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee. Back in those days, weddings were big “to-do’s.” We’re talking a seven-day blow out celebration, a party ‘til you drop affair. So to have the wine run out…and it’s only day three…that would throw cold water on the jubilant and festive mood and be the height of embarrassment for the bridegroom’s family, the hosts of this happy occasion.  

Mary…Jesus’ mother…sees this social catastrophe on the horizon and turns to Jesus to let him know that the wine is running out. And Jesus looks at his mother and says, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.”

This isn’t the only time in the Scriptures where we hear Jesus say something to a woman that might make us think, “Ouch!”

Remember the Syrophoenician woman in Mark with the sick daughter? She seeks out Jesus for help and he tells her that his food is for the children of Israel and not the dogs? And we know how she responds to that…not backing down from her ask and pointing out to Jesus that “even the dogs under the children’s table eat the crumbs” (Mark7:28).

Mary is also undaunted. Even as Jesus is asserting that his “hour has not come,” she knows from everything she’s been pondering in her heart that if anyone can respond and keep this party going, it is Jesus. John doesn’t tell us how she responded to his remark, but clearly she had full faith and confidence that Jesus would not sit idly by.

She tells the servants to follow his directions. And Jesus proceeds to do his first miracle…turning water into wine.

And the party continued.

Jesus heard and understood what needed to happen…even if he seemed at first to be reluctant or unwilling to intervene.

His hour may not have come…but this party was going to fall apart if he didn’t act.

The prophet Isaiah is in a similar situation. The Babylonians had wrecked Zion and Jerusalem. Those who had been in exile are now coming back. Those who had been left behind were traumatized and resentful. Joy is nowhere to be found. And Isaiah turns to God in this time of an uncertain future:

“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn and her salvation like a burning torch.” (Isaiah 62:1)

In the same way that Mary can see that something is awry and needs Jesus’ attention now…Isaiah isn’t going to let God forget the promises made to rescue Israel and restore its dwelling place of Zion and Jerusalem. Isaiah envisions a time when not only will Israel be in right relationship with God; the relationship will be made new…a new name…and the Lord will delight and rejoice as a bridegroom seeing his bride.

And here we are back at the image of weddings…high times…and festive occasions…and lots of joy!

In both these stories…there is an action to get God’s attention. Whether it is Isaiah crying out for the restoration of Israel…or Mary seeking the key element needed to keep a party going strong…someone seeks…and finds God is listening.

I’m wondering how many times each one of us has found ourselves in a situation where we stand in the middle of a dilemma and call out…in exasperation or tears or deep heavy sighs…we seek to get God’s attention to our plight?

This is the weekend where we remember Georgia’s native son the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his place in our country’s history in the struggle for civil rights for people of color.

There is a story about the night of January 27^th 1956…almost sixty-six years ago…when Dr. King took a phone call that shook him to his core. *

King and his young family were living in the parsonage of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery Alabama. He was involved in the bus boycott at the time and had become accustomed to receiving death threats by mail and phone. But this call apparently rattled his nerves.

It was about midnight…and the caller growled a threat…laced with racial epithets…that King better leave town in three days or the caller was going to “blow up your house and blow your brains out!”

Dr. King went to the stove, made himself a cup of coffee, and then sat at his kitchen table. After a short while, he put his head in his hands and began to pray aloud:

“Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right … But … I must confess … I’m losing my courage.”

It’s not surprising he’d have made a prayer like that. Challenging the status quo and being regarded as an outsider in every way and knowing the history of violence against people of color must have been terrifying.

King says the response he got back was an inner voice that said to him:

“Martin Luther, stand up for truth. Stand up for justice. Stand up for righteousness.”

In that moment, he felt a sense of calm wash over his body. He gained assurance…and knew he had to keep going.

God listened. God heard. And God responded.

God met King in his place of fear and desire to retreat. In that moment, King became aware that what he was doing was important and necessary, and no threat could stop him. He was calling a nation to come into right relationship. He was pressing on us to treat everybody right, rejecting the sin of exclusion and racist hatred and fear, and lean into the joy of beloved community.

We’re still working toward that dream of beloved community, when we can all live in harmony and joy.  

Income and health care disparities still exist…and we’re still wrangling over access to the ballot box. Indeed…sometimes it feels as if the promised land is still many miles away.

Or are we so pre-occupied with seeking a pre-determined answer that we don’t see the ways God is working God’s purpose out? That’s another part of our Gospel lesson.

The steward at the wedding in Cana couldn’t understand how it came to be that the wine the bridegroom was serving on day three was of the top shelf variety. The steward was thinking that should’ve been served first and then once the guests can’t tell the difference anymore, the bridegroom can pull out the Manischewitz (apologies to anyone who likes Manischewitz ).

The steward’s attention was on the task at hand, and he was oblivious to what Jesus had done, this miracle of changing ritual water into wine. He was too focused on the details to experience the joy.

We, too, can get so wrapped up in the mundane or our disagreements and division in the nation that we fail to see how God’s purpose is getting worked out day to day in our lives to bring us to the party.

We see it here in our diocese with the Racial Justice and Healing Commission, a group dedicated to working through the troubled history of the past…one relationship at a time…and realizing a hopeful path to a future. The evil that was the murder of Ahmaud Arbery has made this work take on even more importance.

As I mentioned in a sermon during Advent, the clergy in Brunswick pulled together across denominational and faith boundaries to begin the process of addressing injustice not with shouting…but with praying, sharing, listening, and learning.

My hope is that we will see in the next several months opportunities for us in Georgia to do some exploration of the past that leads to something that looks more like the joy of God’s dream of beloved community.

That dream of a beloved community…where all people…no matter our age, color, gender, orientation, status, or identity…  can drink the sweet wine of God’s love…and respect the dignity of every human being.

What a festive wedding banquet that would be!

In name of God…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

*Story related here: Martin Luther King’s defining moment: A kitchen, in Montgomery, Alabama, past midnight - Lisa Singh