This sermon was preached at a joint service of St. Mark CME Church and Trinity Lutheran Church. St. Mark bought Trinity's old building in the 1970s, and the two congregations are working together on mission in the Post neighborhood.
First, and most importantly, what a joy and a treat it is to once again worship together this day. Thank you St. Mark for your wonderful hospitality and thank you Pastor Bell for being my dear friend and brother in the work of justice. It is good, good, good to be worshiping our risen Christ together this day.
Well, we had an election this week. And I have to say; from the president to the Battle Creek school board the only thing that this election told me was that we are a divided nation. From the president to the Battle Creek school board, here in Calhoun County, these were tight races. From the president to the Battle Creek school board, all the candidates know is that we are conflicted. We know something is wrong, but we are split on the best way to fix it.
I went to bed Tuesday night, before any elections were called, feeling pretty confused and upset about the whole thing. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to proceed, in the face of such a divided electorate. I went to bed anxious about what it meant to live in a time where one candidate won the popular vote and the other the electoral vote, and neither party, neither platform, in any campaign, from the president to the Battle Creek school board, had a clear majority. I felt polarized, divided, aware of my privilege as a white American, and afraid.
And then I woke up Wednesday morning, and I made a pot of coffee, and I went to work. I woke up, made coffee, and went to work, because I realized that for every election, from the president to the Battle Creek school board, whoever won didn’t change what my response as a follower of Jesus Christ should be. As a follower of Jesus Christ, my job, however I may feel, is to be God’s hands and feet and heart and mind in the world, bringing forth the kingdom of God. Last Sunday at Trinity we talked about how whether we were delighted or devastated with what happened on Tuesday, there would be a Wednesday, and the work of being the people of God would continue. Well, it’s Wednesday now, and our work continues. This realization made me so, so excited to be here with you this morning, my brothers and sisters in Christ and my partners in the work of bringing the kingdom of God to the Post neighborhood.
Part of what helped me come to this realization was the text I read this morning. In the Lutheran tradition, I don’t choose the texts I preach from. The ELCA is what is known as a lectionary church, which means we read from a series of assigned readings each week. Sometimes I love the assigned text, sometimes I don’t. But the fact that it’s given to me forces me to hear the word the Holy Spirit has for me in it. More often than not, I find that my initial response is wrong, and the Holy Spirit has some great stuff going on to challenge and comfort me. That was the case again this week. At first read through, the assigned Gospel text for this week is terrifying. Jesus said, “not one stone will be left upon another… there will be wars and insurrections, nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom,” this is scary stuff, Jesus! But I want to step back for a second here, and place this text in its historical context, see what this text might have to say to us.
This text comes from the final days of Jesus’ life. The crucifixion is like four days away at this point. Jesus has already ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey to shouts of Hosanna, the religious and political leaders have already seen how Jesus stirred up the attention of the crowds, and they were already scared by that. It seems to be those religious and political leaders whom Jesus is speaking to in this story. He seems to be saying to them, you who have put your trust in worldly powers, watch out. Even this glorious, gold-plated Temple, the very symbol of power and might, this Temple in which you put so much faith, will crumble in the face of the power of God. Jesus is challenging the status quo, those who use their power and privilege to step on and oppress others in their battle for the top. He is telling those powers in no uncertain terms, you better watch out, for the powers of the earth will crumble.
So that’s the first level of historical context, the text itself. But there’s then a second level, the level of the audience for which the text was written. Because, think about it, Jesus said and did a lot of stuff in his thirty-three years of ministry. There’s no way the Gospel writers could get it all down. If you recorded every moment every day of someone’s life, well, let’s just say our pew bibles wouldn’t fit in our pews. So Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, had to pick and choose what to record. So why this story? Why did Luke choose to record this particular incident when he was setting down the life of Jesus for his community?
Luke’s Gospel was written down around 80 to 90 CE. The Temple was destroyed by Roman invaders in 70 CE. Which means that Luke was writing to an audience who was staring at the ruins of their Temple and trying to make sense of the devastation they had witnessed, trying to understand where God was in the midst of these ruins and their fear. By recounting these words of Jesus, Luke was reminding his audience, its ok folks, God’s got this. The destruction of the Temple does not mean the destruction of our God. Jesus told us this would happen, and now that it’s happened, remember the words of Jesus, do not be afraid.
I think we here in the Post Addition have a lot more in common with Luke’s audience than we do with Jesus’ audience. This is Post Addition. We are not staring up at the glorious gold-plated edifices of our buildings, marveling at their beauty and wealth. We are making it work in crumbling buildings, amidst broken families, broken school systems, broken homes. The glorious promise of cereal plant labor and middle class jobs, these homes built for families and schools built for children, have crumbled and fallen. Post Addition may be the neighborhood that Battle Creek forgot, but what this text promises us is that God has not forgotten, God is still here. This neighborhood has seen the earthquake of job loss, the famine of school closures, the plague of violence, and this text is the unwavering promise of God’s presence and power. Do not be afraid, Jesus said in this text, for the end will not follow immediately. This is not the end. Jesus said it, this is not the end, so do not follow those who tell you it is the end. Do not follow those who tell you there in nothing worth saving in Post Addition. Do not believe those who try to sow fear and discord. Do not be afraid, for this is not the end.
This passage started with a conversation about stones. In reflecting on these beautiful stones, Jesus remarked, not one stone will be left upon another, all will be thrown done. Luke’s Gospel has a lot to say about stones. In the very beginning, John the Baptist told the crowds, the same crowds Jesus was speaking to in this story, that from stones God would raise up children to Abraham. Dear people of God, we are these stones. We are the living stones being raised up by God in this place. I want to say again, as I said in the beginning, I am so grateful to be worshiping with you today, I am so grateful you came to worship with us in September, and I am so grateful for my friendship with your pastor. Because in a world that preaches division and a philosophy of not enough, the friendship between our two churches stands in opposition to that. In our work together I find courage, in our work together I find God’s presence, in our work together, I find hope.
This text is comfort, but it is also challenge. Because this text makes us aware of God’s presence, this text also convicts us that we cannot be held hostage to fear, we have to be about the work of the kingdom. We have to be about claiming the opportunity to testify to God’s grace and God’s goodness. We have to be about letting folk know that God is here in Post Addition, and since God is a God of resurrection glory, a new thing is in the process of being born out of this place. It is slow work, we know it is slow work, but this text also encourages endurance. And as Paul said in Romans we know that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint.
Thank you, St. Mark, for being my partners in ministry, my sisters and brothers in the kingdom of God. Let us go forward together to proclaim the presence of God in this community and in this world. Let us show our elected officials what it looks like to walk united, not divided. This is hard work, it is slow work, it is scary work. But Jesus Christ has promised us that he will give us the words and a wisdom that none can withstand or contradict.
In the Lutheran tradition, we read a psalm together every Sunday. The psalms are the church’s first hymnal and prayer book. And in an act of shared testimony, I would love it if we could end the sermon today by praying aloud, together, the psalm appointed for this morning, which is Psalm 98. I want to end with us all speaking together to remind us that this is not the end, it is a beginning of our shared witness. Let us give voice to the promise that God has the victory, that God is steadfast and powerful, and that God has given us the words to testify to God’s name.
O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gained him victory.
The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.
Amen.
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