Sermons
It's a Fearful Thing....
Good Morning!
Last week Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Shori
—who is--by the way
—the real thing.
She is the real deal
and I would happily follow her anywhere.
Last week
Katharine invited us
to give God our all.
Not just part of our lives
or a portion of our things—
but our all.
What’s that mean?
What’s it look like?
More importantly—what’s it feel like?
As the author
of the letter to the Hebrews says,
“It is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Giving it our all
—is much like one of those
“trust exercises”
and high ropes courses
that were all the rage in the 80’s.
A group gathers,
spends a lot of time
talking about teamwork and process
and then one by one—
people venture onto an elevated platform—
while the remainder of the team
—stays down below.
The individual on the platform—
takes stock of the remainder of the group
—lined up—ready to catch him or her
—and then against all reason
and sense of self-preservation—
that hearty individual
—walks to the edge of the platform—
turns around—folds her arms
—across the front of her chest—
and relinquishes herself to gravity.
Backwards into oblivion—
the only way I was ever able to do it
—was to hear constant reassurance
from the group gathered below
—and as I finally let go—
open my mouth and issue forth
an involuntary scream
that followed me all the way down
into the arms of my friends.
I could barely let go
—to fall two feet
into the visible arms of my friends
—much less let go
to plunge blissfully
into the hands of an all powerful
not so visible God…
Falling, letting go, giving it our all
…what does that really mean?
Intellectually
I think it means
saying, “Yes”
to truly believing in God
I think it means relinquishing
our self-satisfied, cynicism
and instead risking
involvement, passion and disappointment.
Falling into the hands of a living God
means relinquishing
our role as pundits
and instead become players.
It means finding the candidates,
supporting the candidates
who will care for the poor
as much as they care for their friends.
It means
daring to claim affordable housing
and universal medical care
as righteous religious family values.
Falling into the hands of the living God
—Giving it our all
means having a real conversation
with someone who is
completely and utterly different from ourselves
—and actually listening. (pause)
Not just waiting for our turn to talk.
Giving it our all—
may be the conversation
I had with my partner Susan
—the other night—
we celebrated her
at a somewhat upscale restaurant.
She said to me, “You know I’ve been thinking—and it seems like People’s Church—(The tiny UCC/Unitarian Church in Uptown that Susan faithfully attends.) is really at a crossroads. And I think—if I double my pledge—we’ll be able to afford a full-time minister. The woman we’re talking to really has a passion for connecting with and working with poor people, homeless people.
She said
with this beatific blond glow
about her face, “
People’s church can really change Uptown
with someone like that.”“So,” she said,
“I’ve decided to pledge $11,000 this year.”
It was at this point
that my wine leapt
involuntarily from my mouth
as I added up our household pledges
and thought to myself—
get the appetizer Bonnie
—‘cause we’re never gonna
be able to afford anything after this.
All the while
this great smile never left Susan’ face—
She said,
looking at the wine drops on the tablecloth,
“We can really make a difference
and I want to do it.”
It’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God…Katharine Jefferts Schori said, “We give it all and believe in a God who will feed the hungry, comfort the lonely, bring peace to a war torn land.”
What’s it mean, falling into the hands of a living God…it means—
in the end—that God is calling us—
the fragile, frail, broken people that we are,
that God is calling us
—to believe and to give our hearts,
minds and souls,
to creating something more.
To creating a place, a world,
a community built on a hope
that turns away from darkness, despair and cynicism
and instead falls gracefully
and willingly in the hands of a Living God.
May we have the courage to let go
And embrace our Lord.
Amen.