Jeremiah 1:4-10, Luke 13:10-17
The Kingdom of God.
Are we there yet? Is it here,
present among us as we act live and be in relationship with God? Or is it something that is coming. Realized or future? Present, or not yet? Today is the first time and
for the next several weeks, we will hear the young boy Jeremiah. He is a young preacher, full of energy and
excitement who questions his call because of his youthfulness and his lack of
experience. The text reminds Jeremiah
that God has always known him and will always be with him. And that God will put words into his mouth. And then Jeremiah’s words are going to be
used to pluck up and pull down, destroy and overthrow, build and to plant.
I think Jeremiah’s story is very present in the lives of
Church of the Annunciation. As we plan
for celebrating our 25th anniversary, we look back on our young
history. We are one of the youngest, if
not the youngest church in the diocese of West Tennessee. 25 years is a blip in the course of
history. With all of these beautiful
old cathedrals and churches with rich histories in our diocese, in the country,
in the world, what possibly could Annunciation have to offer not only Cordova,
but the entire Memphis area?
Yet God used the young boy Jeremiah, his youthful energy,
and his lack of experience, probably in part because Jeremiah realized his
inexperience and accepted who he was, no more, no less. He was just a young boy, and we are just a
young church, just a small child in the sight of all others, with so much
energy and excitement about what both can offer to the world.
And our history is storied. Jeremiah’s reminder that his words are going
to be used pluck up and pull down, destroy and overthrow, build and plant,
might strike a little too close to home for those that have been here the
longest. The negative images of
plucking, pulling, destroying, and overthrowing, are not the memories we want
to remember, but then Jeremiah’s words move to building and planting. These connote growth and renewal, and they
remind us that the pain of growing and being community bears new life,
restoration, and reconciliation.
This is a carry over from last week when we examined the
grit and grind of being Christians, and the hard work it takes to be people of
faith. Which is why I find it so
comforting to encounter the woman that we hear about in Luke who receives the
healing of Jesus. The Gospel is full of
healing stories. People searching for
healing, people who travel miles and endure great journeys. There is a woman in the Bible who crossed all
sorts of cultural boundaries who while bleeding, touched the clothes of
Jesus. Or Jesus who spit on the ground
and rubs mud in the eyes of the blind man who wanted to see, or Mary and Martha
who demanded that Jesus heal and raise Lazarus from the dead. Yet this story is different.
Today, we encounter a woman who did not stand up straight
for 18 years. This is a good portion of
her life, filled with being pulled down, self destroyed, and unable to live
into who she was meant to be. Yet this
woman does not seek healing. Presumably she has not heard of Jesus, or she
does not buy into the rumors floating around.
Instead, Jesus seeks her out, bringing healing in a most unexpected
way. It takes no effort on her part, no
need to reach out, but healing comes to her, breaking through to lift her up to
the full stature of her personhood.
What is missing from the lectionary is the context for
this miracle story. This story is
actually bookended by two parables which provides for an interesting reading of
the account. First, in the beginning
chapter 13, we hear the parable of the fig tree which is a commentary on
repentance. Following the healing
narrative is the parable of the mustard seed and parable of leaven. These parables are often seen as addressing
discouragement and despair when a community feels they have failed. These parables are about the reign of God,
the kingdom, and God’s realm.
And set down right in the middle is the story of a woman
who is sought out by Jesus bringing healing and enabling her to stand up to be
the person she was created to be. God breaking into this world, without asking,
without being sought after to heal, restore, and make new. That is news we all need to hear.
50 years ago, almost to the day, 250,000 people converged
on the National Mall in the largest public demonstration in American History,
and with a single speech, one man changed the course of American History. Drawing on the Bible, The Constitution, The
Emancipation Proclamation, and “My Country Tis of Thee”, Martin Luther King Jr.
shared with the American public a vision for the kingdom of God in his famous “I
Have a Dream” a speech.
He said, “I have a dream today” and it changed the course
of human history. Michele Norris of NPR
recalled this week that while in some ways we have exceeded King’s vision, we
still have much work to do. Is the
kingdom here, present among us, or is it not yet? Realized or future? King had a dream and it spurred America, and
consequently the rest of the world to move forward, to begin the process of
healing, and bringing about the kingdom of God.
As I look at the remarkable timeliness of our lectionary,
not only in the course of our national history, but as our history of being
Church of the Annunciation, I believe the great Saint Martin Luther King Jr.
has something remarkable to offer each of us.
And that is the need to have a dream, to look for what is ideal and what
we want the world to look like, and what we want our community to become. We are called to dream. Whether it is through helping with the 25th
or imagining how we can use our property, we can dream. We can imagine what a full all-ages Sunday
school can look like, with an overflowing level 1 and level 2 atrium would be. We can dream of formation opportunities each
day of the week, of a knitting ministry, of a food bank, of a renovated trail
with a stations of the cross, a flat volleyball court, of a weekday service, of
partnerships with schools, diocese in other parts of the world, and so much
more. We dream, because dreaming helps
to usher in a new reality. Dreaming
moves us in a direction.
The encounter of the woman who is healed by Jesus must be
seen in light of the larger narrative.
As we seek to understand the realm of God, the kingdom, we are comforted
that God breaks through. This is a
wonderful wonderful thing. God is
invasive, searches us out to stand us up straight. Or the story of Jeremiah in his youthful
inexperience, is also the reassurance that God has known him since before he
was born.
In context of our church lives, we are six weeks away
from celebrating our 25th Anniversary. To date, over 350 postcards have been mailed
(only 20 have been returned), press releases have been sent out. We are preparing for an unbelievable
celebration because as a church we have a dream what we can offer this
community, the larger community of Cordova and the diocese of West
Tennessee. We look forward to gathering with several
hundred people, people we have not known long, and people we have known a long
time to celebrate all of the wonderful memories. Yet we acknowledge that not all of the
memories were pleasant, yet through gathering and welcoming others, telling
stories, and celebrating our history, we pray that healing might come in a most
unexpected way.
And in context of our own lives, today’s Gospel can be a reminder
that we need to dream of what life can be.
Smack in the middle of a parable of repentance and a parable of the
vision of a kingdom comes unexpected healing.
Maybe all we need to do is a little self-examination, remembering our
own histories and conflict, retell our own story which can help us all to be
more available for growth and transformation.
This is good news. Amen.
Sermon Preached on August 25th, 2013 at Church of the Annunciation
Sermon Preached on August 25th, 2013 at Church of the Annunciation
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