Sermon preached at St Patrick's, Long Beach; February 28, 2021
About 10 years ago I attended a memorial service for a man who had founded a non-profit.. The man had begun a marketing firm while he was still in college and became a millionaire by the age of 29. He was the picture of success. He did everything right. But one day he and his wife realized that their lives were falling apart. They knew that something drastic had to happen or they would literally drown in their financial success. So after careful consideration and prayer they sold everything they had, gave the money to charity, and headed off to a place in rural Georgia called Koinonia (Koi Noin ya). It is a Greek word that refers to a shared fellowship – in particular a shared Christian fellowship.
At Koinonia he came under the
tutelage of a man by the name of Clarence Jordan. Jordan had founded Koinonia on the principles
of a life lived in community where work, worship, and worldly possessions are
shared. Jordan and his followers after
him challenged the racial and economic injustice and sought a life lived in
self-sacrifice – shunning the “good life” so to speak for a life dedicated to
following the teachings of Jesus. But
Koinonia is perhaps best known – not for Clarence Jordan – but for the work of
his student and friend whose life we celebrated. (More info on Wikipedia)
His name was Millard Fuller
and he spent most of his life finding ways to provide shelter for the most
disenfranchised people. They built
modest houses on a no-profit, no-interest basis, making homes affordable to
families with low incomes. Homeowner families were expected to invest their own
labor into the building of their home and the houses of other families. This
reduced the cost of the house, increased the pride of ownership and fostered
the development of positive relationships. Money for building was placed into a
revolving fund, enabling the building of even more homes. In 1974 Habitat for Humanity International
was founded and I suspect you know the rest of the story.
Tuck that story away in your
heart for a minute and let’s look at this reading from Mark’s Gospel. Mark is the earliest Gospel and one that was
written to a community that was living under tremendous persecution from both
Roman and Jewish authorities. They would
have understood suffering in a way that few of us do. As these stories in Mark unfolded it became
increasingly clear that the disciple’s idea of “messiah” was not what Jesus had
in mind. And so, today, Jesus tells them
that in order for God’s Kingdom to come about it is inevitable that he will be
rejected by his people, suffer great torture, be murdered. Before Jesus could get to the part about the
“third day” the disciples had stopped listening. They were horrified -Peter most of all. And so Peter pulls him aside and Mark says
“rebukes him” Jesus’ response is swift
and sure. He calls Peter Satan and tells
him to get out of his way.
As I read this, I kept going
back to last week where Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness and cared
for by angels. Satan, we are told in other Gospels, offered
Jesus’ wealth, power, and might if he would deny his love for God. Jesus’ rebukes Peter, because Peter is challenging
his vocation – tempting him with doubt. But
Jesus knows that the hand-writing is on the wall. He cannot, in good conscience, stop himself
from teaching and preaching about helping the poor, visiting the sick, reaching
out to the outcasts in society.
Jesus knows that unless he
speaks out they will have no advocate to stand with them in the face of Roman
tyranny and religious persecution. The
peace and comfort of God’s Kingdom will not come about unless he takes a stand
and yet if he takes a stand he will most assuredly be tortured and killed. That’s the human side of the dilemma. But
Jesus also knows that somewhere somehow God will not allow hatred and malice to
overcome the Love of God. Jesus is
absolutely committed to serve God by offering himself fully as servant and no
amount of suffering will interfere.
And then Jesus turns to the
other disciples, to the gathered crowd, and yes to us and says that we too have
a decision to make. We too have a line
to draw in the sand. We too, if we
desire to be disciples - followers of Jesus - will have to make a decision
between the comforts of our human life and the discomfort of standing with
those who are neglected, marginalized.
We too will have to make a decision whether to hide our light under a
bushel or stick it out there in the wind for all to see knowing that someday –
someone is likely to bite that finger off.
February is Black History
month. This year I have heard more
stories about the contributions of people of color to our world than at any
other time. And yet there is hanging
over us all the reality of systemic racism, the travesty of white privilege,
and the danger of terrorists who would destroy our country in order to promote
white supremacy. Truth be told we can
say the same thing about homophobia or misogyny, or isolationism. It seems to me that this Lent we are those
disciples who are faced with the decision to discard the values that have
supported us all of their lives and take up the responsibility to stand with and to support those who are marginalized, to honor and respect all of creation. In the down and dirty – what do you say at
the grocery store when someone makes a racist statement, or refuses service to
someone who is gay, or passes over a candidate for promotion because she is a
woman. When faced with income,
education, or housing disparity... do we turn away or do we speak up at the ballot
box and on the street corner? Do we –
living here in Mississippi with a tragic history of slavery, racism, and
oppression weighing us down like a ball and chain - speak out openly and
clearly to reject the racist rhetoric or do we smile uncomfortably, say
nothing, and play like the guy next door didn’t really mean the threats and
name-calling.
It is hard to hear these
words of Jesus about carrying crosses, denying ourselves, giving up our life –
hard to hear them and frightening to the core.
We are taught from birth that avoiding conflict, protecting our
self-image, looking past the panhandler on the street, locking our doors,
keeping order, these are the things that will make us safe, happy and content. And the opposite – challenging the injustice
of our culture, risking our safety to open the door to the stranger,
sacrificing our own comfort and peace so that others may come in from the cold,
these things are not what our society tells us will bring us happiness. And yet those are exactly the things that
Jesus says will bring us life.
This morning I am asking you
to just consider what if – Jesus is exactly right and the way of the world is
exactly wrong. What if letting go of
whatever it is that prevents you from listening to that still small voice in
your heart that is calling you to answer Jesus’ call to discipleship is exactly
the thing that will open you to a new life in Christ. I don’t know what it is that Jesus has for
you to do – but you know. I don’t know
who Jesus is calling you to love – but you do.
I don’t know who Jesus is asking you to talk to about God’s love – but
you do. I don’t know who needs you to
pray with them – but you do. You do
because when you ask him, Jesus will show you the way. When you pray God will answer with the
assurance of love.
One of the things that I
really miss in the contemporary liturgies are the “Comfortable words”... “Hear the word of God to all who truly turn
to him – Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my
burden is light and you will find rest for your souls”. That is the enigma here. That is the mystery of discipleship. Taking on the cross brings rest for our
souls. Millard Fuller knew it. And the world is a better place for his
having lived. The question for us this Lent
is what cross do we need to take up in order to make the world a better place
for us having lived?
