Sign Me Up! Pastor Andy CastroLang January 13, 2019

Transcription

1 Sign Me Up! Pastor Andy CastroLang January 13, 2019 Scripture (NRSV): Luke 3: As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,16 John answered all of them by saying, I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Luke 3: Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased. Sermon: When we are born, we enter in to it. Life. Its messiness, its brilliance, its beauty and complexity. When God is born in Jesus, God enters in to it. Life. Its messiness, its brilliance, its beauty and complexity. When Jesus gets baptized, the gospel writer tells us that Jesus was there with all the people.

2 Now, John was doing the baptizing, and it was a baptism of repentance a chance to get washed clean and make a new start. What did Jesus need with that? Wasn t he supposed to be good already? Even sinless, according to some theologians? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe Jesus was born into all the depths of our broken world, our sinning, messed up humanity, and really did experience it, too; not as an outsider looking in, but as one of us, really in the thick of it with us. Being human is to be part of broken humanity. And all broken humanity, when looking both honestly and humbly at itself can say it needs repentance, and a chance to get washed clean and make a new start. So, Jesus stands with all the others and gets baptized with them, because it is a call to a new start. John has warned the people that they should live lives of good works and good fruits if they are truly repentant and preparing for the day of the Lord. Which, in his fiery way, he shouts out, will be a day of wrath and a day of judgement! Bear fruits worthy of repentance he yells! So, Jesus joins the line of the baptized, seeking the new heart, the fresh start that all humanity needs. And he prays. And the Spirit of God, in shape like a dove, descends from an open heaven, and speaks a word of love and of blessing on Jesus wet, praying head. What a feeling it must be, to hear that you are a beloved child, and that God is pleased with you. In The Cotton Patch Gospel, a version written by Clarence Jordan, the voice of God says, You are my dear son, and I m proud of you. What could you do, if you had such a message in your heart and mind, each day?! Truly. If you shut your eyes right now, and listen in stillness in this room, then open your heart to hear these words. you are my dear one, and I m proud of you. What happens? Do you feel lighter? Do you feel braver? Do you feel freer? Page 2 of 6

3 More capable? More hopeful? Even, a little joyful? Less anxious? Less worried? Less fearful? When I fell in love with Jim, and he eventually asked me to marry, and we did he began to write in love notes to me that he would strive to live worthy of my love. Now, he didn t earn my love, and I didn t keep tabs on whether he was worthy of my love any given day yet he felt that my love called forth his best, pushing him to do better in loving me back and being his best self. That s what he tells me. Love can do that to us push us to be our best self, push us to give our best self to others and to the world. It s worth the effort. I had a sermon, pages of sermon, all set for today. Then, I went to coffee with Chip. Chip called me out of the blue, last week. I don t know him, and he didn t know me, but he saw our electronic sign and our rainbow flag yeah, you know what comes next. He wanted to know if I believed that the bible was inspired by God and told the Truth with a big T truth. He wanted to know how I, and how we, could accept gay people, sodomites he called them, if we truly read the bible and believe it is the revealed word of God. He didn t yell, but I was I admit it, annoyed at this anonymous haranguing phone call, this disembodied voice without a face and a story connected to it. So I stopped him. Asked his name. asked where he was from. Asked about his church community. Asked him if he wanted to meet face to face over coffee. I could tell he was shocked. But he agreed. We met at The Shop on Perry, yesterday. An older man, with a grey beard. He came with his bible. I came with mine too. And I brought the book, God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines. Matthew does a much better job of talking through the clobber passages in his book than I can do in half an hour in a coffee shop. Page 3 of 6

4 I was hoping Chip would take it and read it. but he said, NO., he d already read lots of books like that, he told me. He invited me to speak first, he would just listen, he said. I knew it was a set up, but I also hoped it meant there was a crack for light, the light of new communication to come in. Nope, there was not. The conversation quickly spiraled down into an endless list of quotes of chapter and verse from Paul, from Ezekiel, from Jude, from Peter, from the gospel of John. I honestly tried not to give up. I honestly tried not to get angry. I swear I tried. I asked Chip about his favorite scripture passage I really wanted to find some common ground with this person. One of mine is Matthew 25: He couldn t give me one he kept on quoting a variety of passages that reflected a fearful rigid reading of Scripture and as far as I could tell, a dreadful understanding of the nature of God. As explained by everyone but Jesus. Paul, Peter, Jude all the strictures of how to live, how to follow Jesus, how to obey the disciples, how to ignore wrong teaching, how to control the followers. Of course he quoted scripture to advise me that I was not a real pastor. A woman can t be, you know. Of course he did. Finally, after almost an hour, I said we needed to quit. He wasn t listening to me, and I had heard all his arguments many times before. He asked me how I could live with myself, a blind person leading blind people into the pit. I simply told him, I didn t believe I was blind about the nature of God and the messages of Jesus. He got up and left abruptly without saying goodbye. Later, he called to tell me no hard feelings and that God loves you and that he hoped I would change my ways. Why am I telling you all this? Because, right here in this story of John and of Jesus we have examples of some of the various ways we approach God. John, the wild-eyed prophet, shouting about broods of vipers who are trying to escape judgment before God. John baptizing people who must repent of their evil, turn their lives around, show the good fruits of reformed lives Page 4 of 6

5 He harangues, he judges, he warns of fire. He scares people into doing good. And people flock to him, afraid, and repentant. Do right, or else! he yells. It s not that John is wrong we are broken human beings. We do evil, consciously, and unconsciously we still do wrong. We can see that our human situation is deeply out of step with God s intention for life. We need to accept our responsibility and we need to turn our lives toward good that is of God. But Jesus, who also is baptized with the crowds at the Jordan river, then prays, the gospel writer says, and on his wet and dripping head, comes the beautiful Holy Spirit of God, in form like a dove, with a message astonishingly different than the message of John the baptizer. You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased. Or, as the Cotton Patch Gospel puts it: You are my dear son, and I m proud of you. Think of it, for yourself What might you do, if you had such a message in your heart and mind each day?! Truly. If you shut your eyes right now, and listen in stillness in this room, then open your heart to hear these words. you are my dear one, and I m proud of you. What happens? Do you feel lighter? Do you feel braver? Do you feel freer? Less anxious? Less worried? Less fearful? More capable? More hopeful? Even, a little joyful? Page 5 of 6

6 There it is: the possibility of relationship with God, through Jesus, that is one of hope and of joy that heals and transforms. A relationship of life giving and life transforming LOVE, rather than great fear of divine wrath, punishment and fire. I told Chip, that the book of the revealing of God is not closed, trapped between the pages of the bible, New King James Version. It is still revealed through the creation, through human love, through science and art and music, through prayer and praising, holy men and women across time that there is so much more to God than just what is between those pages. I could tell he was shocked, maybe even appalled. He muttered something about the apostles telling us everything there was to know, and that was enough, there was nothing beyond their words in the bible. We don t agree, Chip and I. But I will tell you this. Jesus received a message of divine love and acceptance as he was praying, and I do believe that message is written in the gospel of Luke for a darn good reason. So that you and I might hear it, learn it, know it, and be transformed by it. So that our love of neighbor and stranger might grow greater. So that our love might be as big as the love of God. That love that can heal hearts, heal brokenness, heal the creation. Love great enough to end the fighting between us. Love so life changing that it demands I try to learn to love Chip. That is the message of God I will preach, and teach. And no, I do not believe I am a blind guide, leading you into a black pit of condemnation. It is a way forward in life and the way of healing, and restoring and renewing. I will follow God with this message all the days of my life. So be it, Chip. So be it. Page 6 of 6