I. So I want to start of the sermon this morning with a little advertisement.

Transcription

1 SAINTS [and sinners] Mark 2:13-17 November 1, 2015 I. So I want to start of the sermon this morning with a little advertisement. A. This Advent the Advent Study Group, which everyone is encourage to join, will be discussing the book by Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber entitled, Accidental Saints, Finding God in All the Wrong People. B. As we could tell from the scripture this morning, that is exactly what Jesus did; finding God in all the wrong people. C. What Jesus was accused of and what Nadia s book is about is seeing that saints are all sinners and all sinners have a bit of saint in them. To illustrate this, I want to share a bit of the opening to her book. D. Now Nadia is a Lutheran pastor here in Denver and so you ll probably recognize the building with which she opens up this passage.

2 The roof of the Pillar of Fire Church is crowned with the enormous pink call letters KPOF that light up at night, making it look like what it is: a Pentecostal church that doubles as a radio station. We squinted to read the inscription on the memorial: Alma White, founder of the Pillar of Fire Church, Turning to Amy I said, Alma? That s a woman s name, isn t it? Did a woman plant a church in Denver in 1901? I didn t know of many women who had set out to start churches all by themselves, much less at the turn of the twentieth century, so, desperate as I was for someone I could place in the category hero and role model (since I, too, was setting out to be a female pastor of a new church in Denver), I pulled out my phone and Googled Alma White. My excitement about discovering a hero only built as I read her Wikipedia entry: 2 2

3 Alma Bridwell White (June 16, 1862 June 26, 1946) was the founder and a bishop of the Pillar of Fire Church. [Oh my gosh. It s true!] I went on to read that in 1918, she became the first female bishop in the United States. She was noted for her feminism [Yes!] and her association with [wait for it ] the Ku Klux Klan, her anti Catholicism, anti Semitism, anti Pentecostalism, racism, and hostility to immigrants. [Frick.] The next day I called my Episcopal friend Sara to tell her the story of how I thought I had a hero only to find out she was just a lousy racist. Sara s response? E mail me her name. I ll add her to the Litany of Saints along with all the other broken people of God. 3 3

4 I didn t want Alma White s name on the Litany of Saints. Having her name lying on the table, illuminated by the nearby paschal candle, alongside the names of Saint Francis and Cesar Chavez, felt wrong. I want racists to stay in the racist box. When they start sneaking into the saint box, it makes me nervous. But that s how it works. On All Saints Sunday, I am faced with sticky ambiguities around saints who were bad and sinners who were good. [Nadia Bolz Weber, Accidental Saints. P. 4] E. Saints who were bad and Sinners who are good. 1. That about says it. a) Moses who killed a man. b) Rahab who though she was a prostitute is a hero who saved Joshua s men in Jericho. c) David who killed his mistress s husband. d) Peter who denied Jesus. e) Paul who persecuted the Christians. 4 4

5 2. As Nadia points out, What makes us saints of God is not our ability to be saintly, but rather God s ability to work through sinners. [p. 5] 3. So maybe God can use any of us, despite the fact that, in so many ways, we might be illsuited for the work. 4. For me, Moses really stands out as an icon for this. a) As I mentioned, he had that little thing about having killed a man, and then this guy God chose to go speak before the most powerful man in his world also had a stutter and to boot Moses really didn t want to do it. b) Clearly God can use the most unlikely people. 5. But I think we have a lot more saints in our midst than we usually take time to notice because we just see them as regular people just normal sinners. a) While the Epistle of James made it very clear that we re all sinners, most of us aren t the murderous adulterers of the Moses or King David variety we re just regular run of the mill sinners who get mad and angry, are perhaps too slow to forgive, and let our own selfish desires get the better of our loving nature. 5 5

6 b) So if God could use people like Moses and David who are clearly the most important people in the Judeo/Christian faith up until the arrival of Jesus; well, just think of what God should be able to do with us. c) Well, if we look a little closer we might find that many of us regular run of the mill sinners are also saints. II. So if being a saint isn t determined by our lack of sinfulness, but rather being available for God to work through us; then where do we see God working through people? A. I m a little partisan on this but I m going to start with teachers, and members of the School Boards and Administrators many of which really truly do what they do because they feel called by God. Especially those working in schools highly impacted by poverty. 6 6

7 B. Second on my list are the Police. 1. Now due to my propensity to exceed the speed limit and drive in what was probably a very dangerous and irresponsible manner when I was a teenager and then in college my fear and paranoia of cops because they were the rednecks who didn t like guys with long hair and because I did inhale and they were the symbol of the man and all that was wrong with the racist and fascist authorities of the 60 s and 70 s; well I never really saw them as saints. 2. Even today every time some cop somewhere displays their ability to be proficient at sinning, like shooting unarmed kids, and all cops everywhere get lumped in with the blame -- I get a surge of the early distrust and dislike of cops. 3. But I also know that there are some incredible saints wearing the blue. They do a job that I am totally uncalled to do. They do a job that requires them to be some of the very best of God s children and work miracles and stay sane while seeing great suffering and being exposed to great danger. 7 7

8 4. Nope, if I need help I m not calling a hippie I m calling the police because there a good chance they may be a saint. C. A group of people who have taken a bit of a bad rap are Rap artists. 1. Now there clearly are some good ones who have always been polite and well mannered and espoused beneficent values. 2. But, I m thinking of the one s who might seem to glorify misogyny and gang warfare and drug use. The Bad Boys of music. 3. Why might they be saints because they give us a glimpse into the realities of what that world is like; a world that we would like to wall off and leave in the ghetto in the hood. 4. They have shown a light on that world, on the racism and the poverty and the degradation and that light reflects back upon all of us. D. Finding God in all the wrong people also leads me to consider the saints who serve as Defense Lawyers. 1. Everybody s got a reason to hate lawyers. 8 8

9 2. We might put tort attorneys on our list, but people seem to really hate the lawyers who defend guilty murderers and rapists and hedge fund scammers. 3. How could anyone defend serial killers or mass murderers who everyone knows are guilty? 4. But they have to do it. 5. Somebody has to do it with the full intent of getting these people off free or the whole system falls apart. 6. DNA evidence has shown us that we have already put away, even executed, too many innocent people. 7. Yes, Defense Lawyers can be saints. III. Now while those are groups of people who may be seen as saints who sin, or sinners who are a bit saintly; a group I was with the other night helped me think of some individuals that fit into that category of people who might surprise you how God worked through them either as saints who weren t all so perfect or some sinners who really did do God s work. 9 9

10 See what you think of this list and see if maybe there are some others you might think of. A. Russell Brand B. Richard Nixon C. Oscar Schindler D. Lyndon Baines Johnson E. Benjamin Franklin F. Martin Luther King, Jr. G. Martin Luther H. Bayard Rustin I. Steven Hawking J. Margaret Sanger K. Thomas Jefferson L. Jonas Salk M. Bill Gates N. Pope Francis O. Cotton Mather 10 10

11 IV. So did any of you come up with a few more? I m guessing that you have a few more to add to the list. How many of you added your own name to the list? A. Yup -- God can do miracles through you, even if you think you re ill-suited for the job. B. Sure enough what makes us the saints of God is not our ability to be saintly but rather God s ability to work through sinners. [p. 5] C. As Nadia points out, what we celebrate in the saints is not their piety or perfection but the fact that we believe in a God who gets redemptive and holy things done in this world through, of all things, human beings, all of whom are flawed

12 D. She goes on to say of herself, how hard it is for me to believe that what s true of Alma White or Harvey Milk might also be true for me that maybe God can use me despite the fact that I, in so many ways, am ill-suited for the work I do. [p. 5] E. Oh yeah been there felt that. V. So what about you? Are you saintly material? A. As we can see from our list, it doesn t matter if you re fine silk, or torn up old wool plaid, or a stained white sheet; God can use you. B. What are you doing to make the world a better place? C. How are you loving God and loving others? D. Let us remember that, When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? 12 12

13 When Jesus heard this, he said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners. E. So let it be known that YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED. AMEN