I love this song and the questions it poses – What if God was one of us?  What if each face that we look at could be the face of God?  Would we recognize God?  What if God isn’t quite like the God we imagine? What if we consider each face as the face of God? What would we find?
We may just find a God that is a lot like Jesus in our Gospel today.  God-With-Us – Emmanuel – Jesus – is quite perplexing in our reading today. 

We are told that Jesus “set out and went away to the region of Tyre”, enters a house without wanting to be seen, but is nevertheless confronted by an unnamed woman of Syrophoenician origin.  “Phoenicia was a region north of Galilee with major cities named Tyre and Sidon.  Tyre, was historically a bitter enemy of the Jews and so the region of Type was potentially hostile territory for Jesus.”[i]

We don’t know what house Jesus entered or why or even why he did not want anybody to see him.  Knowing he has been traveling and teaching followed by a crowd and at times sought out solitude to simply get away, maybe he needed some time alone.  However, news travels fast and a woman hears about him and confronts him at the house.  She has a daughter with “an unclean spirit”, which means she suffered from any number of illnesses, and must have heard about the miracles performed by Jesus.  She finds him and bows at his feet and begs him to heal her daughter.  Unexpectedly, Jesus dismisses her.  Rather than holding up her faith in him as something to be applauded and something that will save her and her daughter, he instead tells her, “let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs”.  Metaphorically speaking, children would have referred to the Jews, God’s chosen people, and food may have meant the kingdom of God.  So, what Jesus was telling her is that “Nope.  Sorry.  Can’t help you – Israel first.  Get in line. 

Jesus response is shocking and disturbing.  Not only does he withhold help, but he also demeans her.  By comparing healing or feeding her or her daughter to throwing food to the dogs, he effectively removes her humanity and calls her a dog.  In much of scripture, Dogs are not seen as cute little household animals but as dirty scavengers, (see Exodus 22:31).  In the east, to this day, calling someone a dog is one of the worst insults. Jesus softened his words by using the Greek word ‘kynarion’, which denotes a little puppy rather than a full-grown wild dog, but it is nevertheless an insult hurled at a desperate mother seeking help.  And what is especially puzzling is this: Just before coming to the region of Tyre, Jesus told the pharisees and scribes that it is not what is on the outside of the body but what comes out but what comes from within that defiles – so what is this coming out of Jesus?  What are these words?

Rather than be offended, the woman counters Jesus’s attack on her by telling him that even dogs eat the children’s crumbs under the table – insisting that grace is for all, not only for those at the table and a crumb of grace is all it takes. And finally Jesus seems to get it and he changes his mind; our unchanging God changes his mind before her very eyes and responds how we expected him to respond in the first place, “For saying that, you may go.  The demon has left your daughter”. 

The entire encounter is so very puzzling and has been interpreted in a variety of ways.

• Some believe that he was tired and worn and responded harshly because he had gone to the house and did not want anybody to know and yet here she was and asked something of him.  For a moment he forgot but she reminded him of his mission.  However, the Gospel of Mark has other incidents in which Jesus is interrupted as he seeks quiet time.  He doesn’t respond with rudeness then nor denies requests.
• Some believe that Jesus was reactive because he was in gentile and hostile territory and upset about how Jews are treated there and upset about the recent murder of his cousin John.  His reaction thus comes out of his frustration – and yet, this is so much the opposite of what Jesus is teaching, and would he really blame her for all the other things.  It just seems so…well…un-christ-like, one might say.
• And yet others believe that the woman was teaching Jesus.  She, as the outsider, was teaching Jesus about the kingdom of God and she was teaching him what he had been preaching.  But Jesus had been breaking down barriers wherever he left and preached an inclusive Gospel and sat with sinners wherever he went.  Did she really have to teach him?

There seem to be more questions than answers.  Maybe there is no one answers.  Maybe this story is supposed to rattle us, supposed to be uncomfortable and supposed to make us think and wonder.  Maybe we are meant to question our image of God and our place in the realm of God.  Or maybe the story is supposed to make us see ourselves and the crumbs of grace that have come our way as well as the ways in which we may have refused these crumbs to others even when we were able to provide them?  Maybe we are to learn from both Jesus and the woman, because, in a way, we are both Jesus and the woman. 

When this gentle woman comes to Jesus, she does not come because she deserves blessings.  Instead, she comes empty handed, humbling herself before him, and asking for the gift that only he can give. She, just like each of us, knows that she may not be an ideal recipient, but she comes nonetheless, and she comes understanding one thing that eludes so many others and often even us: God’s gifts and God’s well of love – or table or cup – can’t be contained but is overflowing.  There are enough of blessings, enough grace, enough of God’s love to go around for all and more.  And nothing – no gift, no blessing, no food - is too small when it comes from God; the God that can feed 5000 with a few loaves and fishes, can save with merely a crumb. And like the Syrophoenician woman, we too are deeply flawed and fully loved, fallen and redeemed, “simultaneously saint and sinner”[ii], but by crumbs of grace, we are saved.

And like Jesus in our story, we sometimes are reluctant to see the new things God is doing, reluctant to think of new ways of sharing God’s love, and reluctant to see a new way of being.  Like Jesus, we sometimes need a reminder of who we are and what we are called to do.  Like Jesus we sometimes forget for a moment that the salvation of those at the table is directly tied into that of those who are under the table.  We are all in this beautiful and holy and sacred journey called life together.

Wedged in between feeding 5000 people on a hillside in Jewish territory (which happened shortly before this encounter) and then feeding 4000 people in gentile territory (which will happen shortly thereafter), this story marks a transition point.  No matter how we interpret the counter, it is clear that it is here that Christ opened his heart and opened the doors of the Kingdom of God wider than ever before and we are asked to do the same.
Ephrata - be opened – are the words Jesus speaks to heal the man who can not hear and who cannot speak clearly – Ephrata – be opened – are the words God wants us to hear as he speaks clearly to us.  Open up and be opened – open your ears wide to hearing God calling you beloved, open your mouths wide to proclaim the Good News and to speak God’s love into the lives of all others – Be opened to a new thing God is doing in the world and new things we are called to do.  Be opened to hearing God in expected people and places.
​
What if God was one of us?

God was one of us and God is with us!  Be open to hearing God in the world – and let us always put out an extra place setting for any Syrophoenician woman, any children, any people we encounter - so that nobody needs to eat under the table – not even crumbs of grace.
 
[i] New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, “Syrophoenician Woman”
[ii] Martin Luther said that we are simultaneously righteous (or just) and sinners, meaning we are always both at the same time. See Romans 7 if you would like to study this more in depth or google “Simul justus et peccator”.

 Focus Scripture:  James 1:17-27
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. Therefore, rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act —they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
 
Today is Labor Day Sunday.  Labor Day in the USA was established in 1894 in response to years of strikes and protests by workers and labor unions because of poor working conditions, child labor, 12-hour workdays, 7-day work week, etc. In 1894, these protests culminated in Chicago when the American Railroad Union workers went on strike against the Pullman Palace Car company to protest wage cuts and union busting. Labor Day was established by Congress later that year.  The United States Department of Labor explains that, “Labor Day…is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”[i] 

Working conditions and the economy have significantly changed since 1894; and today, we also seem to be at least somewhat recovering from the recent recession.  An article I read[ii] stated that unemployment levels in the US are near record lows and spending has gone up.  However, the article goes on to state that:
“Within the cracks of the economy many people continue to struggle meeting their basic needs, including putting food on the table.

…Food insecurity -- defined as not having enough food because of a lack of money or other resources -- is a daily problem for roughly one in eight Americans…That rate remains higher than before the recession, when the numbers were slightly more than one in 10…

… many residents have jobs that earn too much for them to qualify for federal aid, yet lack sufficient income to get by on their own. Many families don't qualify for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program better known as Food Stamps. Almost half of the 41 million Americans who are defined as "food insecure" aren't eligible for food stamps…

"The minimum wage, adjusted for inflation, is now set about ... 20 percent below the level it was in 1968, so we have many more people who work full time but earn a wage that leaves them at [or below] the poverty line…”[iii] Since 2009, the federal government’s and Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has been set at $7.25 per hour.  A single person has to work 87 hours per week to be able to afford a modest 1-bedroom apartment in Pennsylvania on that minimum wage.  The actual hourly wage needed for this 1-bedroom apartment is about $15.82; however, in Montgomery, Chester, Bucks, and Delaware Counties that number jumps up to $20.13 per hour.

In church we know and affirm, alongside the letter of James, our reading for today, that “every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of light” (James 1:17) and so, the 2009 increase in the minimum wage was truly a blessing and a gift to the working poor.  However, James also tells us that “religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father” needs “to care for the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world”.  And in a country as rich as the US, there is no reason for people to be poor and go hungry; as the faithful, we can’t stand idly by but are called to care.

During the time of writing of the letter of James, Orphans and widows were those who lived on the margins of society and who had little to no rights and resources.  During our times that would include the working poor; those who work sometimes 2 or 3 minimum wage jobs while not receiving benefits, those who are often labeled as lazy or unwilling to find better jobs, those who fall victim to all the “isms” and phobias that keep people from hiring or promoting them, those who are often thought of as having too many kids and too much free time or not enough ambition, and those who are told to pull themselves up by the bootstraps – even though they don’t have anything to pull themselves up by.  Not even bootstraps.
Some may even be here – in this room.

So…What is a Christian to do? To answer that, we can turn to our reading from James. The letter instructs readers on how to live out their faith and be followers of Christ, encouraging readers to always live out the “implanted Word” both individually and communally.

The letter is not addressed to any specific person or church but to “12 tribes in dispersion”.  The letters greeting and closing suggest that its recipients are people of God who have departed from a proper understanding of their relationship with God and so need James’ correction.”[iv]  The letter proposes that sometimes we are like people who look into a mirror and see themselves, but then forget who we and lose our sense of purpose and Christian identity the moment we turn away.  In short, we forget that we are created in the image of God.  And in a time of “thoughts and prayers” typed into a small box online before scrolling it off the screen, maybe we do need the reminder that James offers.  A reminder that our faith comes with a purpose and with a commandment – and the commandment is to love God and to love our neighbors – that includes those neighbors who may experience injustice, including labor and wage injustice.

James first brings glory to God, the Creator of All.  This is a good step for us too.  As we enter this Labor Day, let us be glad and thankful for all that God has done for us - in the ways we have labored, the benefits received, and the retirements earned.  Let us be thankful for those who have protested on our behalf.  Let us become aware of the ways in which God has been with us in our lives and our careers or job.  Maybe we don’t or didn’t have it all and for many of us things certainly are not perfect; nevertheless, we praise God for providing for us and for bringing us to this day.
Next, James instructs readers to allow God’s word to be implanted and grown in us.  God needs to be at the center at all we do because only “the implanted word…has the power to save your soul”.  This is an invitation to reflect and to discern and to wonder:

• Are we who we say we are
• Do we see our own image, created in the likeness of God, and can we see God in everyone, recognizing that all persons as a sister or brother, all fully deserving of a fair portion of the abundant resources that God provides to all of us to share? In other words, can we see that everyone needs a job that is safe, a job where each person is treated with dignity and fairness, and everyone is paid enough so they can buy the things they need to not only survive but provide to for their families and to thrive?
• As stewards of God’s creation, are we working toward a fairer and more just world or are we ‘stained’ by worldly pride, greed, fear, or even ignorance?
• Are we doing what we are called to do? 

Lastly, James provides readers with a call to action.  James’ call to be “doers of the word, and not merely hearers, who deceive themselves” is a powerful one.  There is no mistake; talk that is not backed up by action is nothing, James tells us. Don’t talk, love – BE LOVE!

This passage and others have given the Letter of James a bad reputation.  Martin Luther once called it an “Epistle of straw” and he did not deem it as Gospel because it seems to put works ahead of grace and faith; yet James admits that it is only the implanted word that has the power to save our soul.  But what good is the implanted word if it does not make us act upon it?  What is its purpose?

If we are "doers of the word, and not merely hearers," as James advised, then we must respond to Jesus’ call to love our neighbors. We must remember those who have fought for our rights and we must work for justice in the workplace today and for generations to come. We must help those who do not have enough, and we must work toward equal and just compensation and benefits. 

How? I don't have all the answers but...

We could stand with workers who demand that they are paid a "living wage", adequate for the rich life that God intends for everyone, remember the good that protests and strikes have done for all workers and families, and become informed about labor legislation introduced or needed – and then speak up or write to the newspaper or your representatives about them.
or
We could each urge our State as well as Congress to continue to raise the minimum wage and ask to link it to the consumer price index.  Linking them avoids the erosion of the purchasing power because of inflation, leaving the working poor even more poor. Currently only 17 states link their minimum wage to the consumer price index.[v]
Or
We could let our own wallets do the talking, by supporting businesses that treat workers fairly over those who treat them poorly, and we could advocate to eliminate businesses and business practices in our communities that keep workers down and prey on the poor and working poor.

There are still those who need our voices and our support.  They need our action.  What we do will tell the world what we as Christians believe and stand for.  And change is possible.

• In August, Missouri, voters repealed the state’s anti-union right-to-work law, rejecting being undermined by lawmakers and lobbyists.[vi]
• Teacher strikes in West Virginia, Arizona, Colorado, and Oklahoma earlier in the year showed the power of collective action.[vii]
• Landmark legislation was passed in New York, regulating transportation network companies like Ueber and Lyft while also improving working conditions for traditional Taxi drivers, and Seattle passed a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights.[viii]

Those wins belong to the workers who spoke out and fought back and their allies. And I believe that Christ was standing with every one of them because Christ stands on the side of justice.  As followers of Christ, let us resolve to join Christ in the struggles of low wage workers this Labor Day.  This is important work and it can make all the difference for the community and world in which we live.  Our actions matter.  People generally don’t care about our own theologies and the words we say – but what matters is how we treat each other and look out for all of humankind.  And that is hard and difficult and often unpopular.  Yet we must.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Christians who volunteers at foodbanks and soup kitchens, people or who take to the streets and demand an end to racism and homophobic practices and hunger and poverty and the exploitation of natural resources - For all of them it was or is not enough to just say they are faithful, but they feel compelled to get up and to do. 

May they always inspire us to also be not only hearers of the Word but also doers.  May our works flow out of our faith and for our love for God.

There is a Christ who needs us to proclaim the Good News and to be his hand and his feet.
My we be like Christ.
May we BE LOVE. 
Amen.
 
[i] https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history
[ii] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/despite-stronger-economy-many-americans-still-need-help-with-food/, August 30, 2018 
​[iii] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/despite-stronger-economy-many-americans-still-need-help-with-food/ August 30, 2018
[iv] Timothy B. Cargal, “James”, The New Testament Fortress Commentary on the Bible
[v] http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx
[vi] https://www.npr.org/2018/08/08/636603626/missouri-voters-reject-right-to-work-law
[vii] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/opinion/teachers-west-virginia-strike.html
[viii] https://www.nelp.org/blog/the-power-of-working-people/ 

"To make God’s vision a reality, God calls the Church to action, to “loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke” (Isaiah 58:6). We are called to answer God’s call to be co-creators with God of a world “where justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). God's reign does not stop at the door to the workplace. The Church, the body of Christ, is called to seek out and accompany people wherever they are and stand with them in the struggle for justice. "

​Visit http://www.ucc.org/living_wage to find out more

Note from Pastor Suzanne:  We all come from different backgrounds and have our own theologies and ideologies - shaped by the context in which we were raised and live.  We all have our own ways of living out our calling as God's children and our opinions about what can be done vary.  Some of us may believe that the minimum wage is too low or too high, others may believe that we need unions while others dislike them.  What you stand for is your decision and I do not think that there is any ONE right way of doing things.  That is why I list things that could be done but not things that should be done.  The above are suggestions and nothing more.  In 12 step meetings there is a saying - "take what you like and leave the rest" - that is my prayer and my request for you..  My hope is for each of us to prayerfully consider the plight of the poor and working poor and to listen to what God is calling us to do beyond feeding and clothing them - so they too may be able to look into a bright future and to feel God's love holding them.  

There are scriptures that make me want to turn the page when they come up in the reading-cycle of the lectionary or in my personal devotional reading.  Today’s epistle is one of those – the Armor of God.   When searching online for this scripture, a lot of pictures come up – sort of like the ones above, a Roman warrior looking person, clad in battle gear. 
 
And I found sermons with titles such as:

• “Be a warrior, not a wounded one”
• “Fighting the good battle”
• “Spiritual Warfare”
•  “Power up!”
• “The Fight of Our Lives”
• “God has Prepared us for Battle”

 
For some of us the image of a warrior or knight or soldier in Christ is exciting and comforting – not so for me.  I have nothing against soldiers.  I believe becoming a soldier is just one of the many ways God’s calls us to put our lives on the line for the good of all of humankind and their presence has been a comfort to me in the past.
 
Growing up in West-Berlin, Germany, I remember seeing entire Battalions from the military bases of the allied forces march through the city for exercise drills.  With guns over their shoulders, backpacks on their backs, and their faces camouflaged with paint these soldiers from Great Britain, France, and the United States always looked ready to take on whatever comes their way in order to protect others during the war.  These soldiers represented the end of WWII and the end of the atrocities Germany – my home country - had committed.  I was thankful for them because of the history and stories of WWII that I grew up with.  Their presence was somewhat of a comfort., a sign of it never happening again.  However, their presence was also a reminder that, although it had been a long time since WWII, the war was not truly over yet but we still lived in the aftermath of it.  Until 1990 anyway, when Germany was united, the wall was gone, and Berlin was once again restored as the capital of the country…and, at that time, the allied forces left the city.  Their leaving symbolized peace and a trust in ongoing peace, while their presence symbolizes having not yet fully lived into the kingdom of God and God’s shalom – that time and place when all of humankind live together peacefully and in harmony.
 
The image of the soldier for Christ who fights battles against the devil or all that is evil and the militaristic image of armor that protects us may be a source of comfort and strength for those who see humankind constantly engaged in spiritual warfare.  I, however, like to look at the world in a slightly more idealistic way and through rose colored glasses.  For me, Images that remind me of conflict or combat like the image of an armor of God clashes with that of the God of Love, revealed to us in the person of Jesus who was anything but armored – but who was vulnerable.  Very vulnerable. And whom we follow and attempt to emulate.
 
As I struggled with this text I took to Facebook – because that’s what many pastors seem to do these days - and I asked my clergy friends – “How do you redeem this image of the Soldier of Christ?”  And in response I received a lot of silence and only one response from a clergy friend in central Pennsylvania; he wrote, “This will not make it anywhere near my church this Sunday!”  A part of me wanted to agree.
 
And yet – the text, our reading, is in the Bible and so – can we just discard it or ignore it?  Or maybe, just maybe, there is something about it that is worth looking more deeply into and preaching about.  Perhaps the image of the armor-clad warrior is all wrong.  I believe it is.  I very much agree with one pastor, who stated, “Paul’s rousing words feel militaristic – but are they? Do they really support the talk we hear among some Christians about “spiritual warfare”? or does Paul envision a non-militaristic sort of struggle that isn’t triumphalistic? We put on the armor (the Greek word really is panoply!) – not the first time Paul has used getting dressed as his controlling image: Colossians 3 advises we put on meekness, kindness, and forgiveness. Paul saw Roman soldiers everywhere, so we can understand his use of the image – or did he have Goliath in mind?”[i]
 
The Giant Goliath is one of the most famous characters in the Book of Samuel.  The biblical narrative in 1 Samuel 17 goes out its way to describe him as an immense figure – just allow your imagination go wild for a moment and imagine him, this “champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was 6”6”.  He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was 125lbs of bronze. He had the armor of bronze on his legs and a curved sword of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed 15 pounds of iron…”[ii]
 
Is this the vision Ephesians really wants to convey? 

And even if – I would hope that many of us would object, because today the term “religious warrior” often does not really sound all that promising and good.  Because, somewhere this morning in the world there is fighting going on in any of the names that people call God or some other god, causing grief and destruction and death.  Somewhere today people will insist that they are warriors for God, holding the Bible up like a weapon and throwing scripture around like arrows, in order to oppress or silence others and to stand firm in their way of seeing God’s will for the world – as if they have first dibs on what exactly God wants. Somewhere someone will try to exert power over others in God’s name.
 
And we all know how the story ends with Goliath. Power is deconstructed.  Instead of a great battle between majestic warriors, there comes the little David onto the battlefield.  David who is too small to wear the heavy armor.  He does not meet Goliath with a sword and a spear but armed with a staff, five stones, and the name of God; "You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts…the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into my hand," David said.  And God did.
 
And when we go back to our text from Ephesians and look more closely at the armor, we can see it.  Rather than the image of a soldier, we see a deconstruction of power.  If we remove all the armor pieces the way David shed them, what remains are truth, righteousness (or justice), the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Spirit, and the word of God.  What remains are the things that matter in our relationship with God, our life with God, and God’s purpose. And although the author of Ephesian’s dresses these stunningly beautiful and spiritual words in military concepts, the text does not counter violence with violence.  Instead, weapons of war are laid down in favor of peace and love.   And, as followers of Christ, we know that the only way to overcome the powers of darkness is with light.  As Paul writes in Romans, “Do not be overcome evil by evil but overcome evil with good”[iii].  Similarly, Martin Luther King wrote, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”[iv]
 
Likewise, when the Letter to the church in Ephesus states to “be strong in the Lord”, it means to 

• Stand with generosity and hospitality and against stinginess and selfishness
• Stand with compassion and consolation and against coldness and indifference
• Stand with the courage to raise our voices for the truth against the lie
• Stand with remembering against forgetting
• Stand with confidence against fear
• Stand with the community of faith against loneliness
• Stand with solidarity against betrayal
• Stand with singing and praying against shouting, chaos and noise.

 
To put on the belt of truth and the rest of the items, is to be clothed with the new self, created in the likeness of God. To wear the whole armor of God is not to be strong in the way that we already know to be strong but to be strong in the way that the Jesus is strong – to feed people with nothing but a few loaves and fishes, to speak words of love to those who need to hear them, to attempt to make the powerful care by being a voice for the marginalized, to risk making a fool of ourselves by standing on the side of love and peace and justice.  And so, the call of Ephesians this morning comes at us loudly and with all seriousness, "Be strong in the Lord!"
 
Our epistle text challenges us to constantly discern our view of where and how we as sisters and brothers in Christ and citizens in the Kin-dom of God should speak and act upon the gospel of peace in our world. it challenges us to become more specific and intentional about how we can embody the God of love.  And none of us are alone in this task. We are never alone – God is with each one of us, always, and we have each other.  It is incredibly important to know that the text in Ephesians does not stop with the armor.  Let's hear how it is written:
 
“Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.”
 
The list of the armor of love culminates in prayers and supplications in the spirit and for each other.  It culminates in an act of love.  And so, this is also our invitation this morning: that we strengthen each other with mutual prayer and intercessions so that - despite any real or imaginary chains that we may find ourselves held back by, such as time or age or other resources - we remain aware of the new life that we have been given in Christ.  That we put on this new life and make every attempt to carry God’s love into each other’s lives and into the world - in all that we say and in all we do.
 
This is our beautiful and holy calling.      Thanks be to God!
 
[i] http://jameshowellsweeklypreachingnotions.blogspot.com/2018/01/what-can-we-say-come-august-26-14th.html
[ii] 1 Samuel 16:4-7
[iii] Romans 12:21
[iv] Martin Luther King, “Loving Your Enemies

Focus Scripture:
Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table.
She has sent out her servant girls, she calls from the highest places in the town,
"You that are simple, turn in here!" To those without sense she says,
"Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.
Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight."  (Proverbs 9:1-6)

And

Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (Ephesians 5:15-20)

And

“I am the living bread” (John 6:51)
 
Until I was a teen, we only had one TV and one phone.  I remember my first TV could get about three stations; it had rabbit ears, and every now and then you had to give it a good whack on top or on the side to center the picture rather than have it run up or down the screen in a continuous loop – or you had to dance around the room to find just the right spot to put it for a clear picture, which often happened to be about 5 feet in the air in the middle of the room while being held by someone.  The daily news came on at certain times in the morning and evening and without messages scrolling across the screen or behind the newscaster or commercials interrupting reports.  Unless someone watched the news on TV or listened to them on the radio, they had no idea what had happened in the world until the next day at the breakfast table while reading the newspaper and if whatever happened was going on before the paper went to print.  News took time and there was a lot more silence back then.
 
Today it is all so different.  We hear about natural disasters as they happen and watch live feeds on TV and online.  We know what goes on in places around the earth that we used to know only from maps or globes.  If our hometown newspaper is not enough, we can read those from other cities, states, or even countries online.  We no longer need to redial if we get a busy line but can get our message through via text messaging or email.  Today news and other TV shows are, at times, cluttered with breaking news coverage running along the bottom, the stock market ticker on one side and maybe sports scores on the other.  And there are interruptions every few minutes with advertisements that attempt to convince us that we need and want more products.  Our lives have become ones of constant input and constant computing of messages. 
​
We seem to know so much more now than we used to – and yet I wonder:
Are we any wiser?
  Are we making better choices because of what we know?
    Are we better able to filter the truth from fiction or lies?
      Does an increase of knowledge equal an increase in awareness and attentiveness to the issues of this world?
        Are we any closer to becoming the people God created us to be?
Are we any wiser than we were before?
 
Billboards, websites, robocalls, magazine ads –they all play on our seemingly insatiable need to be right, rich, popular, in the know, and in control. As a contrast to our consumerism comes our proverbs passage – picturing not a lavish feast of excess but a wisdom feast. Not a neon light vying for our attention but a gentle invitation, “Come.” 
 
In our reading, God’s wisdom is personified a woman and she prepares an extravagant feast and invites us to partake.  She has worked hard at getting ready.  She has built her house and its seven pillars suggest an impressive dwelling.  Wisdom prepared the feast by slaughtering animals, mixing spices with wine – an ancient custom – and arranging a table.  Wisdom is the hostess, wanting those who will come to know that they are welcome.  “Take off your jacket, sit down, and stay for food and wine,” she seems to say.  Wisdom is ready and waiting for her guests and she has extended a personal invitation to all.  No quick text message, no evite, no Facebook event to which to respond.  Instead, a much more personal and simple invitation, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine we have mixed.”
 
The metaphor of eating and drinking in Wisdom’s house suggests that wisdom is a lavish gift supplied by God and that humankind is invited to partake of it as a gift.  Wisdom’s call is to the “simple”; she invites those to feast at her table, who can acknowledge their own naivety and need for growth.  The table is often a metaphor for learning in the ancient world, as it was a gathering place around which ideas where shared.  Physical hunger is also metaphor, expressing the human need for God.  Thus, the feast for the simple is an opportunity for learning for those who are humble, as well as an opportunity satisfy the hunger only God can fill. It is a banquet that brings life, appealing and abundant life, open to all who seek it.[i]  Participation is a choice and hearers are open to either accept or reject the invitation.  The choice is not an easy one.  There are many cheap imitations.
 
Just a few verses past our reading we meet another woman who also invites to a feast.    She is a “foolish woman” who tries to entice those who pass by.  Folly or Foolishness did not put any effort into the feast.  At her table you will not be filled but will leave hungry.  According to ancient rabbis, the things offered at the table of Folly are taken away again as soon as one joins the feast, whereas the gifts of Wisdom are lasting.[ii]  Folly serves a soup of quick, temporary satisfaction.  Sort of like the take-out food that leaves you hungry again an hour after eating.  Clearly, wisdom has more to offer: she’s the better person, offering the better feast. Still, we are to choose and some will pass by. 
 
Just as Wisdom calls out to us and invites us to taste wisdom, so does our reading from the Letter to the Ephesians.  Ephesians 5 continues last week’s instructions on how to live a life worthy of our calling and of our transformed Christian lives.  The short 5 verses from Ephesians 5 read a little like a wise grandmother’s instruction – and not without a little wagging of the finger: “Now, now sweetie, be careful how you live, don’t go around with those naughty people, be wise and make the most of your time, don’t be foolish, don’t go around doing things that are bad for you but be filled with the Spirit and make a joyful noise unto the Lord and give thanks for everything!”
 
Rather than the personal invitation of Lady Wisdom, Ephesians’s call feels more like a warning, like an elder telling us that they know exactly what trouble is – maybe because they have been there and done that - and that we do well to stay away from trouble and ought to do the right thing instead. 

• Do not be unwise but wise
• Do not be foolish but understand
• Do not be drunk but filled with the Spirit.

 Be careful how you live, the author tells us- just as Lady Wisdom who warns us to be careful about which feast we choose to attend, and the Gospel reminds us to be careful what type of bread we are willing to eat. Choosing the right feast and bread takes discernment.  It takes quietly sitting with God and prayerfully looking at our lives and our choices.
 
“I am the living bread,” Jesus said.  Some early Christians celebrated Christ as Wisdom incarnate and personified and many of Jesus’s teachings are about topics that were addressed by ancient Wisdom teachers – money matters, social relations, speech, family issues, and so on.  Like the Jewish Wisdom Tradition, Jesus’s emphasis was on application of the teachings in daily life. The teachings are to nourish is and to shape the way we life and the choices we make.  “Eating” the bread of life – chewing on it daily, digesting the messages, and allowing our lives to be changed and shaped by it – it is part of acquiring wisdom.  Attaining wisdom means acquiring knowledge, combining that with native, inborn intelligence and the learning from the experience of others, and listening to the word of God.[iii]  And we are invited and able – because the wisdom of God – Christ - has made its home in each of us.
 
And so here, as the summer comes to an end, is a good time to turn off the phones and computers and TVs and to take a little time for self-reflection and to listen for God’s will for us.  It is a good time to wonder if we are pursuing the life of wisdom.  Are we spending enough time with God? Are we applying the teachings of Christ to our lives?  Are we allowing ourselves to be shaped by these teachings? Do we, as a church, follow the way of Christ and offer it up to others? Do we, like Wisdom, open our house and go out of our way to invite others in?  Do we embody our faith or is there more that we can be or are called to be?  Are we walking in the way of insight, the way of wisdom?  Now is a good time for self-assessment and recommitment to wise living.  “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine we have mixed,” Wisdom calls out, inviting us to learn about ourselves, our lives, our lives as a community, and our lives in God. 
 
May we all choose to accept Wisdom’s invitation into her wonderful home and feast at her rich table.[iv]
 
[i] New Proclamation Commentary, Year B 2012
[ii] The CEB Storytellers Bible, p. 786
[iii] New Interpreters Bible Dictionary, “Wisdom”).
[iv] Feasting on the Word, Year B

Focus Scripture: So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 4:25-5:2)
and
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."  (John 6:35)
 
A few years ago, I sat in a worship service where the pastor was out, and a retired pastor and member of the congregation was filling in.  The service proceeded as normal with prayers and songs and the reading of scripture – and then came the sermon.  The pastor stepped up and began to preach and his preaching was all about substance abuse and addictions; a good topic by any means, but one that seemed strange for our small community of 12 where we all knew each other and where addiction to worldly things looked differently.  Both Peg and I left that service scratching our heads and wondering “what was he trying to tell us?  Why this sermon?  Who was this addressed to?”
 
When I prepared for today and read the scriptures for today, especially the Ephesians scripture, I wondered how I would preach that scripture.  I had a feeling that preaching about “putting away falsehood” (Ephesians 4:25), bitterness and wrath and anger and slander (Ephesians 4:31) and stealing (Ephesians 4:28) within our community of believers might just have you leaving here scratching your heads, wondering whom this sermon was addressed to and why it was preached here and now – in this time and place.  And, to be honest, I wouldn’t blame you at all for wondering.  However, as with every scripture, there is something in it for us – either in our private lives or for us as a community and skipping over it and deeming it irrelevant may make us miss something that is useful to us.  I find the same is true for personal study of scripture – there are times that I pick up my Bible and the scripture I am reading that day doesn’t seem relevant – and yet by the end of the day it was relevant and I did need it for that day.  So, let us look at our reading from Ephesians a bit closer.
 
The Letter to the Ephesians is named for its recipients, a Christian community in the Ephesus, a city on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor.  Many of the early fragments or documents that have been found of the text of this letter do not include the opening reference ‘in Ephesus “ in verse 1 of the letter – reading “To the saints who are faithful in Christ Jesus” instead of “to the saints in Ephesus”; therefore, it is possible that this was a round letter or circular– a letter not intended to one specific church but one that was sent to several churches and addressing a rift between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians.  Chapters 1 – 3 include theological teachings and chapters 4 – 6, in which today’s reading is located, “is an appeal for the church to maintain…unity…and rejecting former lifestyles by displaying Christian values of truth, love, forgiveness...”.  There are no details about what caused this letter to be circulated, but it seems that reminding Christians about their new life in Christ was important.[i]  And so, Paul’s letter to the Church at Ephesus may simply show us that the church is made up of individuals who are flawed and that things can and do happen that tear at the fabric of a community.  However, instead of allowing things to be broken down and torn up, the author of Ephesians reminds us that all we say and do should be “useful for building up” (Ephesians 5:29).  Verse 25 tells us to “speak truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another”.  Verse 28 lifts up the value of honest work and labor, so we may share with those in need rather than meeting only our own needs by stealing from others.  And verse 29 prohibits evil talk because it neither builds up the community nor gives grace to those who hear.  Therefore, the letter to the Ephesians prompts us to become more aware of our words and our actions; to be aware of how what we do, how we are, and what we say may impact those around us, how our words and actions reflect upon Christ and our lives in Christ, and how they shape us and our community.[ii]

One pastor asked, “Did you ever think about how much of our culture is created by our speech? We listen to words that describe our world and we slowly become that world. For example, if we listen every day to language about hate and prejudice and angry descriptions of our neighbors, we will become like that language both angry and prejudiced. That’s what happens when we talk about the people around us. Our language begins to build a world. That world might only be as small as our immediate community but if our speech only tears people down, then the place we inhabit will be one of torn down people.”[iii]  What that pastor was trying to say is that our language and our speech convey emotions and that they are contagious.  And he is right.  Research has found that “one family members' depression can bring down an entire family system. Other emotions, such as anxiety and fear, can have the same effect” and that is not limited to our closest relationships. Likewise, happiness can also spread from one person to another and “just being around positive people can be energizing, motivating, and inspiring.”[iv]   How we are affects those around us and our moods and behaviors and even language have en effect on those that we come in contact with.
 
So how are we supposed to do this? How will we create a world and shape our community in the likeness of Christ with our behaviors and our speech?
 
For the author of Ephesians, the message seems simple:  Love.  In all we say, and do we ought to “live in love, as Christ loved us” (Ephesians 5:2).  And living in love means to think before we speak and to speak words of love and of kindness, tender hearted words that build up others and that proclaim the new life that we have been given in Christ.  The new life given to us through the Bread of Life that we are to feed on, constantly. 
 
As I sat in my office and pondered this, my eyes came to the Psalm assigned for today.  Allow me to read it to you in a paraphrased version from the Message Bible. 
 
PSALM 34,:1-8:
I bless God every chance I get;
my lungs expand with his praise.
I live and breathe God;
if things aren’t going well,
hear this and be happy: Join me in spreading the news;
together let’s get the word out.
God met me more than halfway,
he freed me from my anxious fears.
Look at him; give him your warmest smile.
Never hide your feelings from him.
When I was desperate, I called out,
and God got me out of a tight spot.
God’s angel sets up a circle
of protection around us while we pray.
Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see--
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.
 
Psalm 34 is a Psalm of thanksgiving but to me it is also a Psalm of testimony and a Psalm of invitation.  The Psalmist testifies to all that God has done and how God has changed their life.  We are likewise asked to become aware of and to testify about the many ways that God has been with us in our lives.  The Psalmist invites us to live more fully into our life in God by praising God, by living and breathing God, by calling out to God, and by living a prayerful life in all we say and do.  This includes top be aware of at each moment, how our words may impact those around us.  Do they build up or tear down?  Likewise, our actions, do they harm or help?  We can do so by starting and ending each day in prayer and by approaching each task prayerfully; by asking God to be with us and to guide us throughout the day.  And, like the Psalmist, we are to extend God’s extravagant welcome to others, so they too may see their lives changed by no longer walking in fear or anger but in love.  Our lives and our words become they invitation they may need to hear.
 
Sharing our faith with others and centering it around God - It is hard work and difficult work, as Paul; reminds us, and yet it is also happy and joyful work.  As one website writes, “it is [tough] to be angry but not to sin, to work honestly but also to share the proceeds of our work, to speak to each other only in ways that build each other up, and to forgive.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say each one of us likely knows how difficult it is to do Paul’s words in a divided world like ours. So, no wonder we need God’s own food, Jesus’ very self, in order to proceed. When Jesus proclaims that he is the Bread of Life, he means to be food for the journey.”[v]  We can only be nourished if we accept the bread that is offered, Let us take Jesus up on his offer and let us make him our daily bread and the center of our lives – in word and in deed – and every day again. May this not only shape us and our lives, but also our communities.
 
[i] The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version
[ii] The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version.
[iii] http://www.mhfccucc.org/12801.html
[iv] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/high-octane-women/201210/emotions-are-contagious-choose-your-company-wisely
[v] http://www.ekklesiaproject.org/blog/2018/08/two-meals-holy-land/

Focus Scripture:   So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal."
Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:24-35)
 
“What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you?”
 
For those of you who remember last week’s lesson and sermon, this may be quite an odd question. What sign?  I feel like shouting out (and sometimes I do as I read) - Hey - did not Jesus give you a sign?  Did you already forget..you know..5 loaves, 2 fishes, 1 boy...and 12 baskets of leftovers? And they want a sign? In order to believe?
 
It seems the people around Jesus did not want to hear about God’s mighty deeds nor did they want to hear Jesus preach, even though that’s why they supposedly followed him, but instead, they want a sign.  They want to experience, to see, to feel - not just anything but something big and fantastic and impressive.  A sign that would assure them that Jesus is worth following and, as it seems, a sign bigger than making 5 loaves and 2 fishes feed 5000.
 
Sure, they may have heard of how he healed people and how he turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana - and they may have heard whispers that he was walking on water, but they obviously didn’t see it.  After all, that they went into their boats and crossed the sea after noticing that Jesus and the disciples had left.  Jesus had not left with them and yet there he was, in Capernaum, when they arrived.  And they wondered how he got there even though he was not with them and he was not seen leaving with the disciples, either.  But seeing is believing and not seeing is...well..a reason to doubt. Maybe that whole bread and fish thing was a fluke?  If only they could see with their own eyes the supposed signs and wonders; then it would be so much easier to know and to understand and to be sure.  There would be no need for explanations.  The sign would be explanation enough.  It would legitimize Jesus and put him side by side with Moses - he who gave their people manna in the wilderness to eat.  Jesus would be a hero and following a hero like that - of course - that would be a no-brainer.
 
Throughout the ages people have always looked for heroes to whom they could look up to and whose paths they could possibly follow.  Not just back then, but even today.  It is easy to see - there are scores of books with heroes that defeat villains, movies are filled with  extraordinary beings like Supermann, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, or even Harry Potter, or doctors who save lives and detectives that solve crimes.  Heroes orr even Superheroes.  Those that fight bad and evil in the world and rescue people, magically heal them, or otherwise help make things good and right and whole again. And the search for heroes spills into real life when politicians, activists, supposed healers, or even televangelists try to impress with promises of a better life, more money in our pockets, safer streets, less corruption, less broken promises.  And often people cling to their every word hoping that this will be the one - the hero to save them.
 
That’s what the Israelites wanted, too - a hero.  But Jesus will have none of it. He neither gives them the sign they ask for that moment nor does he make himself look like a hero.  They asked him to perform works and he only responds with words.  No Manna rains down from heaven.  No sudden flashes of light.  No bright miracles that leave one standing open mouthed and in awe.  Instead - he seems to scold them, and he corrects them.  No, it was not he – Moses -- that gave you the bread from heaven, but it was he -- the father of me -- the Father of Jesus - who gives it to you.   As Susan Hylen, Associate Professor of New Testament at Emory University points out, “Jesus defines and slightly alters the terms of the scripture…verse 31 stated, “he gave us bread from heaven to eat.” Jesus says, don’t interpret the subject, “he” as Moses, but as God. Furthermore, he changes the verb tense from ‘gave,’ the past tense, to ‘gives.’ The changes bring out the point of Jesus’ interpretation: manna is not simply a story that resides in Israel’s past, but is an on-going gift of God in the present. It is available to Jesus’ listeners even now.”[i] No sign is needed.  Jesus is the sign and the bread.[ii]
 
But Jesus’ listeners still don’t understand. All they hear is that Jesus is the BREAD of Life, and yes, that is what they want.  They want this bread, this actual bread.  They are hungry for an easier life.  Hungry for a life where there is enough.  Hungry for a life where things go their way.  Hungry for a life without worries and fears.  Hungry for a life that is...well..life.  Jesus telling them “I am the Bread of Life” isn’t enough; no, they physically want that bread that he is talking about and they want it now and always.  Their hunger is real and they want something real.
 
The needs, wants, hopes, and desires of those who followed Jesus back then are not much different from our own. Just as they wanted the Bread of Life now and always, so do many of us and around us today.  So many people feel as if they are wandering aimlessly like Israelites through a desert and they are searching for tangible signs, direction and solutions to difficulties in their lives.  We too are looking for signs that make us feel comforted and cared for and that assure us that all is well and that all will be well.  We too yearn for moments of happiness and fulfillment.  Moments where everything is good and well, and any fears and worries stay far away. And we may look for happiness and fulfillment in self-help books, seminars, or in promises from people that appear as if they may know more truths than we do.  Or we may seek it when opportunity arises for thrilling or different experiencing or even the opposite, when we seek out quiet mountain retreats or the ocean to, just maybe, find a little peace or shalom.  And these moments of freedom from life seem extraordinary and so are signs and wonders.  Life, however, is made up of the ordinary.  Our life with each other.  Our families.  Our neighborhoods.  Our commitments.  All of them are the ordinary staples of life just as bread is a staple food. 
 
Humanity, however, does not live on physical bread alone.  There is another bread, another food that God provides, another manna in the wilderness.  One that helps us to truly and deeply know that we are loved by God.  And that bread is Jesus.  And when the ordinary life leaves us hungry and wanting more, “I am the Bread of Life”, Jesus says, “I am the only food, the staple, the one thing that can satisfy the hunger and longing you feel; not wonder bread but Bread of Life.”  Jesus calls us…to move beyond too narrowly focusing on signs and broaden our perspective into wider, deeper forms of trust in God”[iii] and life with God.
 
“I am the Bread of Life” - The Bread of Life that, as CS Lewis explains, is not the “biological sort which come to us through Nature, and which (like everything else in Nature) is always tending to run down and decay so that it can only be kept up by incessant subsidies from Nature in the form of air, water, food, etc”...but, the “spiritual life which is in God from all eternity, and which made the whole natural universe”. [iv] The bread that is food that endures for eternal life – not a life somewhere in the ever-after but “a life of mutual intimacy with God that can begin here and now…a life with and in God”.[v] This is the life that we were made for and that is the life we hunger for deep within when our souls sense our disconnection from God. 
 
Jesus is our sustenance.  Jesus, the baby born in Betlehem – Bet Lehem in Hebrew means house of bread -- is the daily bread that we are praying for in the prayer he himself taught us: “Give us this day our daily bread” we pray for Sunday after Sunday and many times in between. It is in Christ that we can find peace, joy, and happiness.  When we open our eyes to way Jesus is in our lives and in the world, all of life becomes an adventure; and so, there is no big, magic sign in our reading that Jesus performs - and yet...he still does something marvelous: He invites us.  He invites to a life that is full and complete.  No superheroes needed, Just Bread of Life.
 
“O taste and see that the Lord is good;
    happy are those who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 34)
 
And each time we come to the table we say yes to what Jesus is offering.

​And the table is prepared and open, and we are all invited.[vi]  Always.
 
I am not sure I can think of a sign more beautiful than that.

[i] www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3739
[ii] www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/progressive-christian-lectionary
[iii] www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/progressive-christian-lectionary
[iv]C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (in regards to the difference between BIOS (biological life) and ZOE (spiritual life).
[v] www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/progressive-christian-lectionary
[vi] This Sunday is a communion Sunday so that we all may be fed both by word and by table and experience once again the transformative nature of this shared meal.

Focus scriptures: 
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19: David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
Mark 6:14-29: King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some were saying, "John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him." But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised."
For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it." And he solemnly swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." She went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John the baptizer." Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
 
For ten days during this hot July I had the pleasure of sitting at home after work and watching my 2 ½ year old granddaughter sway and clap to the rhythm of music.  For ten days our house was almost constantly filled with music streaming from the Amazon Echo device on our fireplace mantle and each time it stopped a little voice rose up demanding time after time, “ALEXA…ELMO…”, asking to hear Elmo sing about his favorite word, “ ab-ca-def-gi-jeckle-mi-nop-kwer-stoov-wix-iz”, (which really is just the entire alphabet read out as if it is one word) or to hear him sing about other things important to little red monsters on Sesame Street.  Every now and then, in the middle of a song, Jade would begin to clap her hands or step to the rhythm with her little feet or shake her tiny hips and arms while giggling out loud and lookingto see if we were watching.  Yes, my little tiny dancer, we see you…
 
Although I love to sing, I have never been good at it and I am not the most rhythmic dancer either; instead, I admire those who can look at a sheet of paper and know the melody of a song, I am at awe of musicians able to bless all of us by allowing their hands to glide across keyboards or guitar strings or other instruments, and I love watching when people become one with the music they hear through the dances they express.  Dancing is a beautiful way to express emotions.
 
Two of our readings today focus on dancing.  In our Hebrew Scripture, King David dances enthusiastically and joyfully before the ark of the covenant, the symbol of God’s presence in the midst of Israel, as it was brought to the City of David.  Scripture makes a point of telling us that David was wearing a linen ephod, something sort of like a loin-cloth, a small piece of fabric barely covering him as he danced up and down the streets without shame of showing too much of himself.  As it is, he must have flashed some onlookers and his wife Michal doesn’t seem so happy about it and, to be honest, I am not sure how we would react if our spouses or children where dancing half-naked up and down the streets. On the other hand, the picture of David dancing on the streets wearing a linen ephod gives me visions of feather boa clad dancers on the streets of Rio de Janeiro or Haiti during carnival or rainbow flag waving men and women at pride parades; events where excitement and joy can’t help but make people dance.  Just like my little tiny dancer Jade can’t help but dance around in nothing but her diaper on a sweltering July day when her heart rejoices at songs from Sesame Street.  How could anybody be mad at that, right?  And that’s exactly how excited David and his people were when they “brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet”[i]. In an “elaborately choreographed procession – they simply allowed themselves to be swept up in the moment”, as one author wrote.[ii] And although Michal is embarrassed by David’s behavior, David felt he was simply “dancing before the Lord”[iii] out of gratitude for all that God had done.   David’s dance was an honest expression of his joy over the return of the ark and Joy about God’s presence with Israel.
 
Have you ever been so happy that your feet seemed to move on their own?  Have you ever felt yourself moving to the music in worship or had the impulse to fall on your knees or raise up your hands in worship of God?  Have you ever praised God with your entire body?  With all your heart and mind and body?  With all you have?  What if we worshipped God ‘like no one is watching’, so to speak?  Maybe some of us would be dancing, too.  Maybe some would kneel in awe. Maybe some of us would sing aloud while others sit in silent meditation.  There really is no one right way to worship God. 
 
Our Gospel reading today also speaks about a dance, but it has less to do with worship and more to do with fear and with manipulation.  The author of the Gospel of Mark suddenly interrupts the flow of the story in the middle of Jesus teaching the disciples, and we are told that King Herod Antipas had heard of “it”.  IT probably being the fact that Jesus sent out the disciples two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits, and the twelve subsequently going out proclaiming repentance, casting out demons, and anointing and healing many who were sick.[iv] As news and rumors spread, King Herod inadvertently heard about them.  The rumors he heard were that some were saying that Jesus is “John the Baptist…raised from the dead” while others compared him to “Elijah” and yet others said Jesus was a “prophet like one of the prophets of old”.[v]  Herod himself, maybe still riddled with guilt about ordering the death of John the Baptist, aligns himself with the rumor that Jesus is John the Baptist who has been raised.
 
See, what happened, we are told in somewhat of a flashback inserted into the narrative, is that Herod had arrested John at the urging of his wife Herodias.  We know about the arrest already in the first chapter of Mark[vi], but it is only now that we learn what transpired.  Herodias had been Herod’s brother’s wife but Herod wanted her and so he caused their divorce so that he could marry Herodias.  Their marriage violated Levitical laws because Philip was still alive and thus no one else should have married Herodias.[vii] [viii] John the Baptist was outspoken about how wrong Herod had been and Herodias, annoyed by John’s accusations, wanted John dead.  Opportunity arises for her at Herod’s birthday party.  Their daughter dances in a very intriguing way and Herod is so enthralled with her (and that really is a story for another sermon) that he promises her that she can have anything she wants.  It seems she can’t think of anything fast enough but instead runs to her mother who, rather than giving her daughter good advice, now uses her daughter to get what she herself wants.  She sends her daughter back to Herod asking him to kill John the Baptist.  And he does.  Hesitantly so, because he is intrigued by John’s preaching, but still has him killed;  in parts to keep his promise but also to save face in front of all others who were present when he made the promise to his daughter.  And to think it all began with a dance.
 
Two dances.
 
As Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes writes, one dance is caught up in selfish desires while the other one is a gift.  One dance is offered to please others, the other is offered to God no matter what others think[ix].  One is a dance of joyful emotions set free and the other dance is trapped by political ambitions[x]. One dance full of vitality and life the other death.  One is filled with all the good there is, the other brings out the bad and the ugly.  The bad and ugly are fear and anger and revenge - and the good is pure love. 
 
Pure love is tough.  “Pure love never fits in. It exposes us, makes us look foolish. It comes from a place where who we are, our naked self, is lovely, and offered without reservation. It breaks rules, and it often evokes resistance.”[xi]  Pure love is Daniel dancing on the streets before God, even to the point that he doesn’t really think about what he is wearing.  Pure love is David worshiping God.  And it may not seem like it, but pure love is also what we find even in our gospel lesson.
 
Sandwiched right in between the sending of the disciples by Jesus and their coming back to Jesus to report what they did, the story of the dance and of the death of John, as tragic and horrific as it is, is one of hope and of pure love – God’s pure love.  Because one thing is clear: No matter what happens – God will prevail!   No arrest can stop the Good News from spreading even if people can be stopped by others from living and proclaiming it.  Just as David could not be stopped from dancing because of his love for God, so God cannot be stopped by Herod or by any other mighty powers that try to stand in God’s way.  Love prevails, and it never fails to amaze me and to touch my heart that we are part of this love; that this love – God’s love - lives within us and is aching to be let loose into the world.  Let loose like a passionate dance of glory, gratitude, and praise before God – no matter who we are or what we wear or what we have done.
 
So, don’t hold back.  Instead, be filled with wonder and awe and pure love. Allow yourself to be swept away by the love that won’t leave us, that is with us, and that hold us tight.  Be living witnesses to this love and testify to it, extravagantly welcome others into this love, and allow this love to change your life and that of others.  Let your “hallelujahs” be joyful and passionate knowing that God is with us and will always be with us.  As the Psalmist shouts out: Let everything that breathes praise God! And if you can’t hold back – well…you may just find yourself dancing!
 
[i] 2 Samuel 6:15
[ii] Hugh S. Pyper, Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and Apocrypha p. 386
[iii] 2 Samuel 6:21
[iv] Mark 6:7 and Mark 6:12-13
[v] Mark 6:14-15
[vi] Mark 1:14
[vii] Leviticus 18:16 (NIV: “If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.”) and 20:21 (NIV: ‘If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.”) 
[viii] The fact that Herodias and Philip divorced and Philip is still alive is important.  Deuteronomic Code would have allowed a Levirate Marriage to assure that Philip’s bloodline does not die with him.  In Deuteronomy 25:5 it states, “If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.”
[ix] Paraphrased and adapted from https://www.unfoldinglight.net/reflections/1342
[x] Joseph Bessler, Feasting on the Gospels, “Mark”, p. 176
[xi] Quote from https://www.unfoldinglight.net/reflections/1342

Focus scripture:  On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" (Mark 4:31-45)
 
More than once I have heard the Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth being quoted as seeing that one should preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.  When looking for this quote and the context in which he said it, I found that it does not appear to be a true statement; however, Barth is quoted in a 1963 article in Time magazine as saying that he advised theologians to “take your Bible and take your newspaper and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible”[i].  What Karl Barth was saying, and I agree, is that theologians must put on their “gospel glasses” so to speak and make sense of the meaning and impact to us of all that is happening through them. 
 
That is not an easy task.  And it is a scary task. And it is one I sometimes want to shy away from because it is so easy to be seen as being too “political” or even worse “partisan”.  Being partisan is never my intent.  Party affiliation is of no interest to me.  It is impossible, however, to preach the Good News without being political.  As the late Scholar Marcus Borg once wrote, “Politics are at the center of the story of Jesus. His historical life ended with a political execution…In [Jesus’s] world, “kingdom” language was political. Jesus’ hearers knew about other kingdoms…The kingdom of God had to be something different from those kingdoms…The Lord’s Prayer speaks of God’s kingdom coming on earth, even as it already exists in heaven. It is about the transformation of this world—what life would be like on earth if God were ruler and the lords of the domination systems were not… It would be a world of economic justice in which everybody had the material basics of existence. And it would be a world of peace and nonviolence. Together, economic justice and peace are “the dream of God”— God’s passion for a transformed world.  Jesus’ passion for the kingdom of God created conflict with the authorities.”[ii]
 
And often it still does today.  The Christian life is a political life – if we want to or not, and so I believe that I cannot preach here this morning without lifting up the deep concerns regarding immigrants and refugees from Mexico as well as places in South and Central American, and the separation of families at our borders.
 
The reports I have heard and pictures I have seen touch me on a very personal level. Not only because I am an immigrant to this country, although from a Western Nation, but because:
 
I have separated children from their parents. For nearly five years I worked for Child Protective Services and was a first responder to allegations of child abuse and neglect.  I had to separate families and the tears from the children as well as the parents will stay with me forever.  But, from hugs to gentle words, from a small blanket or pillow from home to a picture of their parent – I did whatever I could to calm children’s fears and answer their questions.  Above all, however, every attempt was made to not separate a child from their parent.  Every attempt was made to keep families together whenever possible or to at least have a child stay with another relative of home was not safe. The goal was to keep the trauma of separation as minimal as possible. 
 
According to one organization, “Trauma can affect children’s brains, bodies, behavior, and ways of thinking. Ongoing trauma often disrupts children’s sense of security, safety, and sense of themselves and alters the way they see and respond to people and situations in their lives. Approximately one in four children in foster care will show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.”[iii] And these are children in Foster care – not children kept in a Walmart warehouse.
 
And so, when I read the news about the children that are being separated from their parents at the border, I worry about the trauma these children experience.  I wonder about the long-term effects not only on their emotional and psychological well-being but also their physical well-being. I can’t help but wonder how these children may live out the trauma they experienced later in life. What will the ripple effects be of their storm and how will it impact even the next generation? And it is not only about the trauma of the children and their future, but also about the parents and about us and our country and about the bigger question of what to do.
 
After reading the lesson from the Gospel of Mark I could just draw easy connections between the story and our lives.  I could tell you to think of the many storms in your own lives or even illustrate my point with some of mine, and there have been plenty, and I could tell you to have faith and that we are all in the same boat and that Jesus can calm any storm in our lives. But I don’t think this story is only about us and our own lives or boats.  Preaching that Jesus can calm any storm rather than that he is with us in the storm would make room for the type of bad theology that teaches that bad things won’t happen if only you have enough faith.  And focusing on the one boat in which Jesus sits and making it our boat ignores the fact that we are not all in the same boat. The same storm, yes, but not the same boat.  The way that we experience this current storm is very different from how the families of immigrants and refugees experience this storm.  Still, it is important to remember that, unless all of us are safe, none of us are safe.
 
The same is true in our scripture - that evening, when the disciples took Jesus with them in the boat, it states that “other boats were with him”.  And when Jesus was “in the stern, asleep on a cushion”, and “a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that the boat was already being swamped”, all other boats found themselves in the same situation.  And when the disciples tried to wake Jesus feeling as if he did not care about them and their safety, and he finally woke up and rebuked the wind, then the wind was also stilled for all other boats.

Jesus' disciples are fishermen, and have surely survived storms on this sea before, but this time they are terrified. Large waves threaten to capsize the boat and they are fearful.  As is written in a publication by Church World Services “We quickly learn that the fear of the disciples has overpowered their faith. They lose faith that God could be present even during the threat of a devastating storm…This passage teaches that fear is the most destructive force that exists. Fear has the power to paralyze us; and lead to inaction in the face of injustice. Fear has the power to make us blind to the spirit of God, and the redeeming work of God.”[iv].  There are certainly times when we fearfully wonder if God is awake and where fear makes us wish for Jesus to wake up to command the storm to "Peace! Be still!" - Fear is a powerful emotion. Overcoming our fears helps enables us to calm the storm. 
​
If only the storms of violence that cause people to fear for their lives and abandon their homes and attempt dangerous day or weeklong marches through mountains and deserts or sea crossings in flimsy boats could be stilled! Likewise, if only the storms of fear could be stilled in ourselves; storms that cause us to believe that immigrants or refugees, the people from the “other side” will take our jobs, bring drugs and crimes to our streets, and that they will take away resources from those who were privileged enough to be born on “this side”. If only…
 
The Good News is that we are not alone.  Jesus is in all of our boats.  "Peace, be still" is a call to trust, to calm our fears, and to rise above them.  It is a call to be non-anxious, but not inactive.  What if Jesus was sleeping in the boat because he trusted that the disciples were perfectly capable to keep the boat steady in storm, empowered by their faith and by the example he had set?  We have Christ’s powerful teachings of justice and mercy and compassion and the command to love our neighbor. What we do have is the love of Christ to call upon and to pray for the Spirit to fall afresh on us.  What we do have is love.  “There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear”[v]
 
We can wake up the sleeping Jesus in all of us and call on him to still our fears and help us encounter our own chaos and biases and moves us from complacency to action for justice and peace.  It is through the lens of the Gospel, the lens of justice and peace, that we can begin to recognize and conquer the storm.  Be it writing letters to officials or sharing on social media, donating to the UCC’s “Keep Families Together” campaign[vi] or donating to UCC affiliated Bethany Children’s Home in Womelsdorf here in Pennsylvania, which has helped unaccompanied minors, or be it any other way in which the Spirit moves you to act -- there is something that each one of us can do to speak up for these children and these families. 

There is SOMETHING each one of us can do to bring about God’s dream of a world of justice and equality.  And as I said last week – With God, all things are possible – so:
 
What will you do?

[i] http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,896838,00.html
[ii] https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/people/related-articles/jesus-and-politics
[iii]https://www.adoptuskids.org/meet-the-children/children-in-foster-care/about-the-children/understanding-trauma
[iv] http://cwsglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Worship-Resource.pdf
[v] 1 John 4:18
[vi] http://www.ucc.org/keep_families_together

ocus scripture:  He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come." He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. (Mark 4:26-34)
 
There are many stories in the Bible that invite us to wonder about God and the Kingdom or Reign of God.  Our readings today are not different.  Today we are invited to ponder why God would chose the youngest and smallest of all the sons of Jesse to be king over Israel[i] and why a seed as small as a mustard seed becomes a fitting analogy for the Kingdom of God.  Now – choosing David as king I can sort of be ok with because his physical size would, of course, be no indication of how he may lead a people, but the mustard seed as God’s kingdom?
 
"The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed..."
 
I don't know about you, but when I thought of mustard seeds the only thing that came to mind was pickling spice. I do not recall ever using mustard seeds on their own, but I have used them in various dishes and when used for making pickles, they give cucumbers the flavor they need to be more than just a tasteless pickle.  One website writes - "Without herbs and spices, a pickle would be a bland shadow of the fresh cucumber it started out to be."[ii] Without the mustard seed thus a pickle just isn’t a pickle – and without them soups and stews and meats might lack a depth of flavor because, although small and tiny, mustard seeds are able to flavor an entire dish. Still -- "The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed..."?
 
Sowing Seeds is a common theme that runs throughout the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament.  The Bible teaches us there is a proper time to sow and to harvest.  A seed that is planted and nurtured can grow into something amazing.  Jesus uses the example of the mustard seed to talk about the reign of God and to illustrate how something very small can become larger and greater over time.  The Gospels of Matthew and Mark use the mustard seed as a measure of faith that can move mountain. Even a little faith can do big things.  In our reading today, however, there is no talk of faith.  Instead we are left wondering ...a mustard seed?
 
A mustard seed is tiny, and it is difficult to imagine that something benefitting many or even all can grow from something so small – and even something unwanted.  See, that is the strange and funny part of this parable.  The first hearers of Jesus message would have wondered why Jesus chose a mustard seed, because mustard was more of a weed – an annoying plant that stubbornly sprung up when least expected and in places where it was not wanted; sort of like a Dandelion. Yet, if we delve deeply into scripture we see that this is how God has always been doing things. God sees Mustard seeds and the possibilities that can spring forth form something that is small and seemingly insignificant or even annoying.  God sees possibilities where we do not.  I mean, let’s be honest, who would, in their right mind, have thought that the answer to all that ails the world and the salvation of all of humankind ought to start with and depend on a small baby born in a stable in Bethlehem.  God did.
 
Right here, almost halfway between Christmas 2017 and Christmas 2018 (the actual midway date is June 24/25, 2018), it is easy to forget just how astounding it is that the small and humble beginning of Christ has led to a worldwide movement that still brings many of us to church every week even more than 2000 years later.  Wherever we go, we can usually find a building somewhat like ours – built to have a place of worship and to honor that small baby and the man he became; a place to worship the God that always was and that came to be with us and is with us in our daily, small lives. But God always starts out small, especially new things: 

• Ex nihilio - Out of nothing
• Out of a handful of dirt and a breath
• Out of one nomad named Abraham
• Using the smallest and youngest of the sons of Jesse – named David
• Out of a young girl named Mary in Nazareth and a small baby born to that young girl.  Born in a stable – Jesus of Nazareth.  God with us.

 
God created and creates out of small. God created and creates out of the weak and vulnerable.  God created and creates out of the lowly. God created out of a little town and a girl and the whole world still speaks about it.  The parable of the mustard seed reminds us that Christianity may have had a very small and humble beginning and at times it may even have seemed doomed, it nevertheless has grown big and wide, into a worldwide community of believers.
 
To me this is a hopeful message and sometimes a much-needed reminder, especially in this current day and age, when we look at Pews or bank accounts that do not look as full as they may have been a few years ago, and we wonder if the Church at large as well as local houses of worship like Trinity can survive; when we read or watch the news and learn about 2000 and more children forcibly being taken away from their parents who simply wanted a better future for them[iii]; when statistics tell us that people on minimum wage are not making enough money to rent an apartment anywhere in the United States and yet fair wages for all just aren’t even on the horizon[iv]; when shootings occur in our schools or workplaces and on our streets; when sexism, racism, and homophobia keep so many people from living their lives to the fullest; or when worry or even fear about our own future or that of our children and grandchildren grips us…
 
…That is when it is a good time to stop and to remember the mighty mustard seed.  Yes, the mighty mustard seed.
 
Did you know that mustard plants contain health-promoting oils that break down into chemicals that, as various studies have shown, can act as anti-inflammatories and that even seem to inhibit cancer growth? Mustard seeds are also an excellent source of selenium, a trace element that is also thought to have an anti-cancer effect[v]. Mustard is a healing herb and the mustard brush, just as Jesus said, can grow big and become home to birds and provide shade to other animals hiding beneath. Not a mighty cedar that towers over everything but a shrub that grows possibly even in the places where we least expect it. It is a small seed that can have a big impact and it yields a plant with many health benefits.
 
“The reign of God is like a mustard seed….”
 
If a mustard plant grown from a tiny mustard seed can stop inflammation and pain and cancer growth, then imagine what pain and suffering and societal cancers the reign of God can stop or even cure.  And do not doubt that it will.  Just as the first parable in our reading told us, “the kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.”  We may not know how, but we can rest assured that growth does take place.
 
And Paul’s letters call us to respond to God’s gracious, mysterious kingdom work by committing to living lives rooted in Christ’s love.  Love, unwavering love, and not might is what transforms us.  And love is what we have to offer to the world.  Love is what we can offer to flavor the soup of all of creation.  The kind of love that was shown to us by the example of the man that the little baby born in Bethlehem grew up to be.  He forgave sin, he feed the hungry, he healed the sick, he served by washing the feet of his disciples, and he refused to be silent in the face of injustice and oppression.  Jesus was a servant king and we are a servant people and it is the love we have received in Christ, that moves us toward loving the way he did.  Let us remember these words from Paul: “For the love of Christ urges us on” and in Christ “there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new”[vi]. 
 
Where is the Reign of God bearing fruit in your own life?
 
As UCC pastor and author Rachael Keefe writes, “This mustard seed parable of the tenacity and unpredictability of God’s Realm should guide us in our interactions with our neighbors. Yes, we need to plant seeds with care and nurture the crops of loving kindness. But in other situations where it seems we have no control and there is no hope for new life, we must look for the signs of God’s Realm unfurling it’s tiny, fragile leaves. The seed of God’s Realm could take root with any act of kindness, any effort to reach beyond what is comfortable and known, any tentative welcome of the stranger, or any tender mercy extended to the most vulnerable among us.
 
All hope is not lost, even in this violent, self-destructive world. The Realm of God is alive and well… Let’s be generous with our compassion, our kindness, our mercy, our patience, and our love. Let’s scatter the seeds everywhere... There’s no knowing exactly where and when the Realm of God will grow strong and blossom with justice, healing, and grace for all of Creation.[vii]
 
No longer a small mustard seed but a mighty mustard seed, watered with the waters of baptism and fertilized by our participation in the reign of God it grows hope and healing – now and always. 
 


[i] From today’s Hebrew Scripture (1 Samuel 15:34-16:13)
[ii] http://www.frontiercoop.com/community/how-to/your-guide-to-homemade-pickles
[iii] https://www.npr.org/2018/06/16/620451012/dhs-nearly-2-000-children-separated-from-adults-at-border-in-six-weeks
[iv] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/13/a-minimum-wage-worker-cant-afford-a-2-bedroom-apartment-anywhere-in-the-u-s/?utm_term=.1a3c5084c8cc
[v] http://www.ijsr.net/archive/v4i8/SUB157340.pdf, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4928060/, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/18/mustard-good-for-you-anti-cancer-healthy
[vi] From today’s Epistle (2 Corinthians 5:6-17)
[vii] https://rachaelkeefe.wordpress.com/2018/06/14/out-of-control/