Homily for 11.25.17

Scripture passages:

Ez 34:11-12, 15-17

1 Cor 15: 20-26, 28

Mt 25: 31-46

Christ the King.  This is the feast which we celebrate today.  Now, perhaps you like me don’t often use this title for talking about Jesus.  We as a church like to pride ourselves on not being hierarchical, and a title like King seems to support this hierarchical sense of power.  We like to use brother, or friend, but not often King.  However tonight I would like us to consider how this title of Christ as King might actually be Good News that we can claim and celebrate, by exploring who is Christ the King and where he is.  

I invite us to first reflect on our Gospel passage.  This is the last teaching of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew before the passion, so that shows us the importance.  This is Jesus's parting reminder and advice, and it sums up one of the central themes of Matthew’s Gospel: we are to love God and love neighbor which go hand in hand.  Typically the focus of the passage is on the sheep and goats, but tonight I want to focus on the King.

First imagine you are a first century follower of Jesus.  You are currently living under occupation by the Roman Empire.  You are subject to the whims and greed of the local King/Lord.  Only about 3% of people have any real power and wealth, and so you most likely either live in poverty or have a small trade that allows you to get by with the basics day to day.  You are heavily taxed, you have no voice or vote in governance, and little power to defend yourself against any verbal or physical abuses by the ruling elite and its army.    

What could possibly give you hope in such a desperate situation?  You have this story in your tradition, that you hear when you gather with friends to break bread and remember the promise of the one who was crucified, died, and rose again.  There is another Kingdom and another King, one who is mightier than all the powers of this Earth.  This King rules with justice and righteousness.  Not only that, but with all his power he chooses not to reside in a palace but on the streets, with the poor, hungry, and homeless.

Christ the King is not only present with the poor and marginalized, but has declared there will be consequences for those who fail to care for him in these spaces.  New Testament scholar Warren Carter says that “the judgment reverses the imperial privileging of elite interests by [prioritizing] the needs of the poor and powerless.  The vision reveals the imperial structures are not divinely sanctioned or “natural” but rather creations of and for the imperial elite - and under God’s judgment.”  This is incredible news for those living under these imperial structures.  None of this is God’s will, God is on our side, suffering with us under these current systems of oppression, and those responsible for my suffering will be judged accordingly.

Now perhaps your mind already jumped ahead, but given this ancient context and understanding for the early Jesus movement, it isn’t too hard to look at our world today and find some similar parallels.   We are living under a type of exploitative empire which keeps a very small percentage of people with exorbitant wealth and a great majority of people either in poverty or making just enough to get by each day.  This – let’s call them the 1% - in turn use their great wealth to influence power and control over the governance and laws of this country, which they use to maintain and expand their own power and wealth at the expense of the greater majority.

Meanwhile we see more families and young adults amassing overwhelming debt,

we see a growing despair that leads to drug overdoses or violence in our communities,

we experience increasing natural disasters and climate change fueled by extractive fuel and mining industries and increasing pollution and waste,

we hear stories about women being sexually harassed and assaulted on a daily basis,

families continue to be torn apart through deportation and unjust immigration policies,

and our Muslim and Jewish neighbors are the victims of hate crimes.

Where is Christ the King in the midst of all this?  The Gospel tells us that the King is present in the very people who are suffering under these unjust and exploitative economic, political, and legal systems.

A modern day telling of our Gospel might sound like this:

For I was undocumented and you offered me sanctuary.

I was targeted by systemic racism and police brutality and you joined me to advocate for accountability and protest in the streets.  

I was a refugee fleeing violence, drought, or flooding and you welcomed me.  

I was poisoned by living near a toxic waste site and you fought to protect funding for clean-up and ensured I had access to affordable health care.  

I was a victim of sexual assault and you believed me and supported me.   

Christ the King, our loving and powerful God, could choose to be anywhere, and they choose over and over again to show up in the people and places that the empires of this world de-value and cast aside.  

When the messages of earthly empires are telling you that you are nothing, you are worthless, you are not fully human, you don’t deserve the same rights and opportunities as others, to be able to know in your heart and say with confidence that they do not have any claim to your life, there is one mightier than them who not only knows you by name and calls you beloved, but is actually present with you in all you are experiencing and struggling with - that is good news!  

So where does this leave us?  Maybe you fall into one of these categories of the marginalized or suffering, and can take comfort and hope in knowing that God is with you.  The powers of this world are nothing compared to the power of the Spirit that accompanies you and actually is present in you as you are going through your current struggles.

If not, I would hope that as Christians you have a desire at least to know Christ and be in relationship with him.  In order to build a relationship and grow in love and understanding, you have to spend time with the other person.  And our Gospel tonight tells us where we can find Christ the King, to engage in this relationship building.    

It is in our encounter with the poor, the homeless, the oppressed fighting for their liberation that we encounter Christ in a way that we cannot encounter him anywhere else.  We can’t fully know and love Christ, without knowing and loving the poor and the oppressed.   And when we know and love them, we make their struggles our struggles.  Of course we will share our food, our drink, our clothing, our comfort and presence, our resources and privilege, because that’s what you do for those you love.  

Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement has said that "it is love that will make us want to do great things for each other.  I do not know how to love God except by loving the poor.  I do not know how to serve God except by serving the poor."

Karen House, the Catholic Worker house here in St. Louis, continues the mission Dorothy Day started to foster loving encounter and transformation.  And we as a community have an opportunity to participate in this transformative encounter of love by preparing, serving, and sharing meals with the women and children who are currently housed at Karen House.  I have personally lived in the Karen House community and can testify to the power of getting to know Christ our King, present in those the world is quick to overlook or cast away, through something as simple as sharing food and conversation.

I want to close with some words of Pope Francis, from his address for the World Day of the Poor last weekend.  He made a beautiful connection between what we do in this space as we gather each week to remember and celebrate the Eucharist and what we are called to do outside this gathering within the larger community.  “If we truly wish to encounter Christ, we have to touch his body in the suffering bodies of the poor, as a response to the sacramental communion bestowed in the Eucharist.  The Body of Christ, broken in the sacred liturgy, can be seen in the faces and persons of the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters.”

May we, through a love and vision that is born in the celebration of Christ broken and blessed in the Eucharist, go out into the world to encounter Christ the King present in the broken and blessed spaces, and through this encounter grow deeper in love and actively participate in God’s kingdom breaking forth in the world.  Amen

Homily 11.2.17

(This was a homily I preached on 11/2/17 for my Preaching class at Eden to my seminary classmates)  

Focus Scripture: 2 Kings 2:1-15 

We are gathered together this morning on the feast of All Souls, which is a day for many in the Christian community to remember the great cloud of witnesses who accompany us and continue to inspire us in the life we live and the work that we do as faith leaders.  It is a day to reflect on our loved ones who have passed from this life, and yet continue to live on through the ways they touched our own life. 

It is a perfect day to reflect on this passage from 2 Kings – a journey of a student accompanying his beloved teacher as he prepares to leave this world, and then trying to figure out, – well now what?  I invite us to engage with this story of Elisha and Elijah today as a way to also reflect on our own mentors, teachers, and loved ones who we have accompanied, bid farewell to, and remember now on this Feast of All Souls. 

Our Scripture passage begins with this dynamic of accompaniment and farewell.   Throughout the life and ministry of Elijah, he has established these schools of prophets throughout the region, which he is now visiting one last time as he prepares to ascend into heaven.  Accompanying Elijah on this journey is one particular, chosen and beloved student: Elisha.  In each town they visit on this farewell tour, Elijah tells Elisha to stay behind, and he refuses.  The prophets in each town tell Elisha what he already knows, Elijah’s time is drawing to a close and he will soon be taken from him.  He doesn’t want to hear this, or be reminded, he just wants to spend as much time as possible with his beloved mentor and friend.

Perhaps you can relate to this dynamic of accompaniment and farewell, of not wanting to let go or say goodbye to a loved one.  Even as you know that their time is coming to an end, when others around you remind you that their days or hours are numbered you just want to shout back, like Elisha, “Shut up!  I know!  Just let me be.” 

I saw this dynamic play out when my grandma was dying.  It was obvious when she was getting close and her body was starting to shut down.  My grandpa continued to lovingly accompany her and care for her until she took her last breath. In those final months he didn’t want to hear from those of us who would remind him of what he already knew was going to happen, he didn’t want to waste any time preparing for the inevitable, he just wanted to spend every minute he could with the love of his life. 

And then whether we want it to or not, that moment finally comes.  We are separated from the one we love and look up to.  And even though we knew it was coming, it is still so incredibly hard to let go.  Our friend, our teacher, our family member, our beloved – is gone.  What are we to do now?   

When Elijah is carried up into heaven, Elisha responds with a great shout and tears his clothes in two – a symbol of deep, profound grief in the ancient world.  While the Scripture doesn’t clearly communicate how much time Elisha spent in that spot where he last saw Elijah, I imagine him being so overwhelmed that he stays there for a good while, sobbing, shouting, not knowing what will happen now and not wanting to move on too soon. 

Eventually he does get up, and picks up what is left behind of his beloved friend and mentor: the mantle.  What a perfect symbol right?  He literally picks up the mantel of the one who has gone before him, and returns to the water’s edge where Elijah with God’s help had parted the waters to allow safe passage.  He’s now alone and not sure what will happen. You see Elisha knew and felt that God was present in and through the life of Elijah, and now that Elijah is gone, there is a question – has God left as well? In this moment of anxiety and uncertainty he cries out: Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?  

Do we not also ask this question when we experience great pain or loss?  When we have to say goodbye to someone that we love?  Where is this good and loving God who is supposed to protect us and never leave us?  Where is the Spirit of God that was so active and present in the life of our loved one, which we experienced in relationship with them? 

Elisha’s question is answered in the parting of the waters.  The same Spirit of God that was with Moses in the parting of the Red Sea, the same Spirit of God that was with Elijah in parting the Jordan, now rests with Elisha as he crosses through the parted waters, returning to the company of the prophets who can see this truth and proclaim: “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.”  God hadn’t left, just because Elijah had departed.  God was still here with Elisha, ready to accompany him as he carries on God’s prophetic and healing work in the world.    

I hope and pray that you receive the same blessed assurance as Elisha when you cry out to God in moments of grief and despair – and know that God is here.  The life giving Spirit of God does not stop its prophetic work in the world when there is a death.  The life giving Spirit of God continues its work through you, and you, and me as we pick up the mantles of the prophets who have gone before us and continue their work in the world.  

 

I experienced this truth in a deep and profound way during the five months I lived in the beautiful country of El Salvador.  Archbishop Oscar Romero was a priest and prophet of God for the Salvadoran people, speaking out against the corruption, injustice, and violence of the State on behalf of the poor.  He was assassinated for this prophetic work by a military death squad while celebrating the Eucharist on March 24, 1980. 

You see, the government thought that they could stop the prophetic work of God in the world, by killing God’s prophet.  But they were so wrong.  Archbishop Romero said before he died, “If they kill me, I will arise again in the Salvadoran people.”  And he did.  I encountered his Spirit in the lives of the Salvadorans I had the privilege to know, who not only keep his memory alive but continue his prophetic work in the world for peace and justice on behalf of the poor. 

I am reminded of another of God’s prophets, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated on April 4, 1968.  The powers of white supremacy thought they could silence God’s prophetic voice and stop God’s prophetic work for justice and racial equity by tearing down one of its prophets.  But they too were so wrong.  Because the life giving Spirit of God does not stop its prophetic work in the world when there is a death.  There are those who pick up the mantles left behind, go out to the water’s edge, cry out to God, and find safe passage to continue the work until the time comes to pass on the mantle to another. 

Perhaps this doesn’t look so dramatic or public in our own lives. 

Perhaps we are reassured of the presence of God’s loving and liberating spirit when we offer the same kind of radical hospitality and loving attention that we were taught by a beloved grandparent. 

Or when we step into this seminary journey knowing that we are continuing the family business of Christian ministry, started by our dearly departed ancestors. 

Or maybe it looks like the inexplicable sense of courage and conviction that arises out on the streets, linked arm in arm, shouting “Free Our People,” knowing that Jesus is here, Moses is here, Romero is here, King is here. 

God’s life giving, liberating Spirit is here.  We do not walk alone, even when we say goodbye.

On this feast of All Souls, I invite us to close by speaking out loud the names of our departed prophets and loved ones in confidence that the Spirit of God which flowed through them and touched our lives, continues to flow through us as we continue and expand their work.  After each name please say together in confidence and affirmation: Present!  

(Since this was part of a class assignment, it was also filmed.  If you would like to watch the video of the Scripture passage being read as well as the homily preached follow this link:  https://youtu.be/NbNMGtVey3Q)