Series: “Jesus’ Message: You Are The Change”

Series: “Jesus’ Message: You Are The Change”

“Diversity Is Not The Enemy”

Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15

John 6:24-35

There is a saying among the Ngambaye people of Chad: “one day of hunger can make a wife leave her husband’s house.”[1] We, like this wife and the people of God in the Exodus 16 reading, want what we want when we want it. We want God to solve “stuff” for us. In the Exodus text, Moses is the advocate on the people’s behalf for the loving nature of God.

As your pastor, I am the advocate on behalf of you for the loving nature of God. As followers of Jesus, you are the advocate for the loving nature of God on behalf of others. Jesus is our advocate. God’s benevolence never ends, my friends. But when we cry out to God are we claiming an idea that God is loving or clinging to God?  If clinging, we know all about God’s love, by experience. And our experience of God’s love validates that all things work together for good. Dean McDonald writes, “God in Christ has passed the test of faith, but the church is being examined every day.”[2] It is in the authentic struggle of diversity, in all its forms, that we must cling to God in what it means to love God and love others.

Let’s be honest. Miracles do not necessarily, bring about faith. Take for example the gift of Manna from heaven in Exodus 16. Often, miracles cause confusion, division, and hostility. The people of God complained and grumbled. Manna wasn’t the type of food they wanted. Why might confusion, division, and hostility be the case? If a person does not have an authentic relationship with the miracle worker, that person is left dumfounded and angry.

In John 6, Jesus admonishes the listener to stop seeking “food that perishes.” People then and now seek food that perishes because “we long for a religion of convenience, faith that satisfies our wants, rather than working for the food that endures.”[3] We are addicted to the “high” of temporary fixes. Jesus came to complete a relationship, between God and humanity. That’s a permanent fix.

The story in John 6 suggests that the focus of ministry is not what good people decide is a good idea and said idea is reasonable to undertake. But instead, trusting God to probe and ascertain our true question and authentic need. What is accomplished, then, is not what’s reasonable, but a miracle. Ministry should leave people exclaiming the transforming power of God. People talk about Jesus when they experience his incredible love. Rebecca Manley Pippert in Out of the Salt Shaker & into the World writes, “…if seekers do not see the love of Christ in us, then they most likely won’t be interested in investigating any further.”[4] Are we willing to let God probe and ascertain our true question and authenticate need?[5]

Each of us has questions about God and our experience of God’s love. The Table is a very present reminder that God has accomplished something incredible for each one of us. Some have begun to experience it and others wonder what “it” is. Let’s not be attracted to Jesus for a miracle, the idea that God can do some amazing “quick fixes,” but to an engaging, life changing relationship with the One who knows us the best and loves us the most. John Calvin writes, “Christ does not reply to the question put to him,” when we seek “in Christ something other than Christ himself.”[6]

Like the people in Jesus’ day, we have questions. Jesus didn’t answer directly then. And he doesn’t answer directly now.[7] Instead, Jesus probed to figure out what the people were really seeking. And he does the same now. Are we willing to let God probe and ascertain our true questions and authenticate needs? If so, we gain insight into what others might be asking and needing.

In the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, we eat bread and drink wine together. We confess our hunger and trust that Jesus meets us in the questions and walks with us as we discern the answers. The Reformers taught that faith itself is a gift of and from God. God creates hunger for God in each one of us. God gives each one of us the ability to believe. God will meet you in your hunger this day and satisfy it. Act in faith. Believe! Amen.

 

 

This sermon was preached the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost on Sunday, 4 August 2024

by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

 

Copyright Ó 2024

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

 

[1]Abel Ndjerareau, Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2006), 106.

[2]Dean McDonald in David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 3 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 295.

[3]Wayne A. Meeks in David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 3, 311.

[4]Rebecca Manley Pippert, Out of the Salt Shaker & into the World (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 150.

[5]In the three paragraphs of textual analysis above, I have benefited from the thinking of Garrett Galvin, Curtis Farr, Deborah Sokolove, Sammy G. Alfaro, Lucy Lind Hogan, Max J. Lee, and John M. Buchanan in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year B, Volume 3 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020), 196-198, 199-200, 201-204, 205-207, 207-208, 209-211, and 211-213.

[6]John Calvin, The Gospel according to St. John, Part One 1-10, in Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries, translated by T.H.L. Parker (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1961), 152.

[7]Thank you, Christopher Morse, for this insight. For more of Christopher Morse’s thinking on this subject, see David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 3, 308, 310, 312.

 

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The Journey of One Race and One Blood Isn’t Easy

Series: “Jesus’ Message: You Are a Participant in the Dream”

“The Journey of One Race and One Blood Isn’t Easy”

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27

Mark 5:21-43

Next week we celebrate our 248th anniversary of independence as a country. 1776 was an important year. And then eleven years later, in 1787, our government’s system of democracy was established. As a country, we value the idealism of the Declaration of Independence and the pragmatism of the Constitution.

Democracy is a modern idea that is transformative. A democratic form of government is freeing and challenging…distributive and collective. Louis Menand writes, “It is a remarkable fact about the United States that it fought a civil war without undergoing a change in its form of government. The Constitution was not abandoned during the American Civil War; elections were not suspended; there was no coup d’état. The war was fought to preserve the system of government that had been established at the nation’s founding-to prove, in fact, that the system was worth preserving, that the idea of democracy had not failed.”[1] And now, our country is once again caught in a struggle of what democracy is and is not.

Christians have a parallel journey to that of our country’s journey on what democracy is and isn’t. We are on an ongoing conversion from a life which was lost without Jesus to one which is more and more informed by the way Jesus’ words and deeds which encourages our words and deeds to be more like his. In all aspects of life we must take measured steps of making the necessary changes in character and attitude to be fully functioning human beings. Yes, this journey requires each one of us to examine our Christian beliefs. It also requires us to examine our convictions on race, privilege, gender identity, LGBTQ+ rights, human equality, sexual orientation, and gender equity.

Jesus had returned to his home town. He taught in the synagogues and the people were shocked. Notice the words of Mark 5:25, “Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’” Jesus and his initial band of followers were committed to inclusion of all. In this case, this woman was not recognized as human, much like the lepers and blind.

In Mark 5:21-43 along with Jesus, we acknowledge that being at odds with others on non-essentials is normal. However, a most significant part of the journey is to rally around our unity on the essentials. The authority of Jesus was challenged because it expressed itself in powerlessness, dependency, and relationships. Jesus did not place limitations on those who could accomplish God’s purposes. The marginalized and disenfranchised embraced Jesus, but those who held power and position rejected him. Mark 5:35 reads, “While he [Jesus] was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’” Jesus’ way of speaking and doing his ministry was difficult to embrace because it did not align with conventional expectations or values.[2]

Friends there is one race with one blood. There are women and men. There are those with different gender identities, ethnicities, and sexual orientations. Followers of Jesus understand that we are committed to a journey of building life for all people, as intended by God. We are committed to a journey that all humans are created in the image of God and deserve the same rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the Constitution asserts. Crawford W. Loritts Jr. writes, “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the handful of words and actions of the bad people but the appalling silence of the good people.”[3] In the citation just read, it is clear that the cry for holy impatience at the beginning of our country has been the same cry throughout the centuries. And it is the same is true today. Equality is still lacking. Jesus was not silent. Like Jesus, Christians are to speak up for justice and kindness.

Patience is a virtue, and it is important in our journey of conversion. But and this is a vulnerable, yet authentic but, silence is a form of unholy patience, and when Christians are silent, the journey of Christian discipleship presses pause. The statement by Jesus that he is the way, the truth and the life is paused in the silence. And so it is for the teachings of the Greatest Commandment, the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 25. Yet the journey is not to be pressed on pause. We are called to press play. 2 Samuel 1:25 and 27 read “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle…How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle.” Saul, Jonathan, and David spoke up and led the Israelites into battle with the more powerful and mighty Philistines.

The freedoms we have in our country should bring us together to accomplish a common vision that is inclusive, not exclusive. Crawford W. Loritts Jr., the father of Bryan Loritts, writes, “Until we come to the place where we see ethnic diversity as more than a strategy, emphasis, or an occasional feature in our e-magazines, we will always be playing catch-up.”[4] The integrity of the gospel demands that the visible transformation Christ provides be demonstrated and modeled by the unity of the one Body of Christ.[5] The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are loud voices and rightly so!

Exercise holy impatience in the journey of being one race and one blood. Claim the integrity of the gospel in your life. Demonstrate and model the unity of the Body of Christ in your words and actions. There is one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all. Do not remain silent. Amen.

This sermon was preached the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost on Sunday, 30 June 2024

by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas 

Copyright 2024

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club New York, (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001), ix.

[2]In the two paragraphs of textual analysis above, I have benefited from the thinking of Mark McEntire, Wyndy Corbin Reuschling, Anna George Traynham, Zaida Maldonado Perez, William Yoo, Matthew L. Skinner and Richard W. Voelz in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year B, Volume 3 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020), 108-111, 111-112, 113-116, 117-119, 119-121, 122-124 and 124-126.

[3]Bryan Loritts, ed., Letters To A Birmingham Jail: A Response To The Words And Dreams Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2014), 76.

[4]Bryan Loritts, ed., Letters To A Birmingham Jail: A Response To The Words And Dreams Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 85.

[5]Some ideas in this paragraph adapted from Bryan Loritts, ed., Letters To A Birmingham Jail: A Response To The Words And Dreams Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 74-92.

 

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Series: “Jesus’ Message: You Are a Participant in the Dream”

“This Is The Time for Measured Patience”

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

Mark 6:14-29

We belong to each other and that is God’s intention. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Ephesians 1:3-14, a lectionary text not read this morning, describes how God has brought each one of us into a new definition of community. God saves, rescues, liberates, and prepares us to bear witness to the good news of redemption and transformation of individuals and societies. How is that accomplished? Through one another. Jesus knows us. Jesus lives his life in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. We receive grace upon grace from God. Jesus is seen, heard, and known through our interactions with others. We are one race, one blood and we experience that reality more and more through measured patience.

To be clear, the God who creates us is the same God who saves us and the same God who lives in us. Jesus showed us the way to give our lives away for the sake of others, as Jesus gave each of us his life for our benefit. Love God and love others. Every Christian should be united around the Sermon on the Mount, the Great Commandment, Matthew 25, and the Great Commission. Jimmy Carter in his book Our Endangered Values writes,

The many differences among Christians create confusion, fragmentation, and even acrimony, and it is difficult for individual believers to comprehend and adhere to the fundamental elements of the faith. The broader consequence of all these divisions is that global evangelical work suffers and our reputations are tarnished as we contend with one another. Instead, religion should provide the way to heal the differences that separate people, based on the paramount law that Jesus taught, to love our neighbors as ourselves.[1]

And to former President Carter’s point, John Bryson in Letters To A Birmingham Jail: A Response To The Words And Dreams Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes, “It is inconsistent with the gospel for believers to lift up the name of Jesus with one hand and hold on to racial attitudes, thoughts, beliefs, or actions in the other hand.”[2] As followers of Jesus, we cannot believe one thing and live with words and actions that contradict the gospel.

Yes, we need to shed words and actions that are inconsistent with the gospel. From the Old Testament Reading and the Gospel Reading, we learn that the presence of God is no longer contained in the Ark of the Covenant. In Christ we have God living within each one of us. Whether we experience scarcity or abundance at any given time, the earth belongs to God and all that is in it. In Jesus Christ we have been given every blessing, chosen by God, and adopted into God’s family. And we are to be known as people who tell the story of Jesus in words and actions.

This is how we are known as people who tell the story of Jesus in words and actions: our lives bear fruit consistent with the gospel. The Great Commandment, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 25, and the Great Commission are imperative to being people who are the fruit we produce. 2 Samuel 6:1-3, 12b reads, “David again gathered the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand…. to bring…. the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim…. out of the house of Abinadab…. to the city of David.” Ephesians 1:3-5 reads, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing…. just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world…. destined…. for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ.” And Mark 6:14 reads, “King Herod heard of it [the things Jesus’ disciples and John the Baptist were doing], for Jesus’ name had become known.” Ah, it is true that the gospel is told throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. It is a one Covenant promise my friends.

In Mark 6:14-29 we encounter the power of Jesus’ name. Although Jesus was rejected in his hometown and by religious leaders and the elite, his popularity everywhere else grew. Jesus’ disciples were spreading good news. John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, spread the name of Jesus and the power available from Jesus for changes in character and attitude. Trusting Jesus and repenting of sin are most significant to experience the power of Jesus Christ. And this continued to irritate the elite, the religious leaders as well as government officials. John the Baptist’s preaching about Jesus challenged the twisted rules of Judaism and the Roman empire. Herod’s beheading of John the Baptist solved nothing. John the Baptist’s message was carried on by his disciples and all who experienced transformation in Jesus and embraced their adoption into God’s family. Mark 6:29 reads, “When his [John the Baptist’s] disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.” Neither John the Baptist or his disciples renounced their responsibilities to live in words and actions the truth of the gospel. And they did so loving God and others.[3]

The gospel disrupts personal and collective understandings of power. Individuals and communities cannot avoid the call of the gospel for change in character and attitudes. We are one race and one blood. All of us are in this together. Again, John Bryson in Letters To A Birmingham Jail: A Response To The Words And Dreams Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes, “A diverse life precedes a diverse organization of church. You cannot reproduce what you are not.”[4] Be a person committed to diverse relationships and friendships. Be intentional about learning. You cannot produce a life, in words and actions like Jesus, if you haven’t begun the journey to discover the person and purpose of Jesus Christ.[5]

In the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, let us remember that God is the God and Father of all people. How you live your life in words and actions in a measured and patient way is a gospel issue. Trust God to transform your character and attitudes to become more like Jesus. Demonstrate the unity in which Christians stand: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all. May your words and actions reflect this unity. Now is the time to live a life of and in measured patience. Amen.

This sermon was preached the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost on Sunday, 14 July 2024

by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

 Copyright 2024

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

 

[1]Jimmy Carter, Our Endangered Values (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2005), 45.

[2]Bryan Loritts, ed., Letters To A Birmingham Jail: A Response To The Words And Dreams Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2014), 107.

[3]In the three paragraphs of textual analysis above, I have benefited from the thinking of Mark McEntire, Wyndy Corbin Reuschling, Anna George Traynham, Zaida Maldonado Perez, William Yoo, Matthew L. Skinner, and Richard W. Voelz in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year B, Volume 3 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020), 144-146, 146-148, 149-151,

152-154, 154-156, 157-159, and 159-161.

[4]Bryan Loritts, ed., Letters To A Birmingham Jail: A Response To The Words And Dreams Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 110.

[5]Some ideas in this paragraph adapted from Bryan Loritts, ed., Letters To A Birmingham Jail: A Response To The Words And Dreams Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 95-110.

 

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You Cannot Produce What You’re Not

Series: “Jesus’ Message: You Are a Participant in the Dream”

“You Cannot Produce What You’re Not”

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

Psalm 48

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Mark 6:1-13

Jesus is the real deal when it comes to freedom. On Thursday of last week, we celebrated our 248th anniversary of independence as a country. 1776 was an important year. And then eleven years later, in 1787, our government’s system of democracy was established. A democratic form of government is freeing and challenging…distributive and collective.[1]

Our country is on a journey, currently, which is one of experiencing what democracy is and isn’t. Christians, in the midst of the aforementioned, are on a journey of experiencing what Christianity is and isn’t. We are experiencing ongoing conversion from a life which was lost to one which is more and more informed by the way Jesus’ words and actions transformed life. In all aspects of life, we take measured steps of making the necessary changes in character and attitude to be the best Jesus people see.

This past Monday, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the President of the United States to have unlimited authority and immunity in official acts regarding core constitutional principles without fear of prosecution. It now appears that any President can behave like King George III, the very leader from whom we fought in the American Revolution to be freed. If a President behaves like a king, authoritarianism, not democracy, is the way of our government.

Being a Christian means we only have one king and that is our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But as in the case of the people of God in the Old Testament who wanted rulers like everybody else, some of the kings worked out well and others not so much. In both the Old Testament and New Testament, some of the people of God and Christians exercised civil disobedience to those in power. Those individuals received imprisonment and even death.

Let us not forget the Great Commandment, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 25, and the Great Commission. The journey of Christian discipleship is one of transformative words and actions. 2 Samuel 5:1 reads, “Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and said, ‘Look, we are your bone and flesh.’” Psalm 48:12-14 reads, “Walk about Zion, go all around it, count its towers, consider well its ramparts; go through its citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever. Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope.”  2 Corinthians 12:10 reads, “Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” The Christian journey is a passionate defense of equality and equity full of pathos and gospel truth.

In Mark 6:1-13, Jesus had returned to his hometown. He taught in the synagogues and the people were shocked. Notice the words of Mark 6:1, 3 “On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished…. ‘Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters with us?’ Leaders who speak truth with conviction aren’t received in their hometowns. Leaders who commit to a journey of building life for all people, as intended by God, that all humans are created in the image of God and deserve the same rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the Constitution asserts, face criticism, and scrutiny.

Like Jesus, we acknowledge that the most significant part of the journey is to rally around unity not division. The authority of Jesus was challenged because it expressed itself in powerlessness, dependency, and relationships. The marginalized and disenfranchised embraced Jesus, but those who held power and position rejected him. Mark 6:3-4 reads, “…And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’” Jesus’ way of speaking and doing his ministry was difficult to embrace because it did not align with conventional expectations or values.[2]

The freedoms we have in our country should bring us together to accomplish a common vision that is inclusive, not exclusive. This common vision is rooted in the kingship of God not man. The integrity of the gospel demands that the visible transformation Christ provides be demonstrated and modeled by the unity of the one Body of Christ.[3] The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are loud voices for democracy and the common good!

It appears that Christian Nationalism is a power grab. Jesus led in powerlessness. The mission of Christian Nationalism is about winning. The mission of the church is reaching people with the love of Jesus in words and actions. Polycarp (1st and 2nd centuries) and Perpetua (2nd and 3rd centuries), did not seek martyrdom. However, their faithfulness to God challenged the “royal consciousness” of imperial Rome. In the 20th century, Oscar Romero, Maura Clark, and Jean Donovan did not seek martyrdom. However, their faithfulness to God challenged the “royal consciousness” of the Roman Catholic Church.

Claim the integrity of the gospel in your life. Take a look at the world God has created. Count the blessings. Educate the next generations about the goodness and faithfulness of God. Be strong in Christ, although appearing weak to the world. Cultivate a spirit of humility knowing that God’s grace is sufficient. Confront the evils of injustice. Reject selfishness and embrace self-giving. Demonstrate and model the unity of the Body of Christ in your words and actions. Be an agent of God’s healing and reconciliation. Remember, you cannot produce what you’re not. Amen.

This sermon was preached the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost on Sunday, 7 July 2024

by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

 

Copyright Ó 2024

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

 

[1]Adapted from Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club New York, (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2001), ix.

[2]In the two paragraphs of textual analysis above, I have benefited from the thinking of Mark McEntire, Wyndy Corbin Reuschling, Anna George Traynham, Zaida Maldonado Perez, William Yoo, Matthew L. Skinner and Richard W. Voelz in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year B, Volume 3 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020), 127-129, 129-131, 132-134, 135-137, 137-139, 140-142 and 142-143.

[3]Some ideas in this paragraph adapted from Bryan Loritts, ed., Letters To A Birmingham Jail: A Response To The Words And Dreams Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 74-92.

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“Just Say Yes to Multiethnic Faith Communities”

Series: “Jesus’ Message: You Are a Participant in the Dream”

“Just Say Yes to Multiethnic Faith Communities”

1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16

Mark 4:35-41

Jesus consistently challenged the disciples to put their beliefs into practice. In Mark 4:40, Jesus responds to the disciples’ plea for help in the storm. Jesus replied, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” Martin Luther King, Jr, in his April 16, 1963, Letter from a Brimingham Jail, writes,

Injustice anywhere is a threat. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives in the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.[1]

I think the disciples thought it was an injustice that Jesus was sleeping on a cushion in the stern of the boat. Jesus was fine, and they were fearful of losing their lives. The disciples spoke up. Jesus moved them from belief to action.

Moving belief into action is imperative. You recall the story of David and Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:32 reads, “David said to Saul, let no one’s heart fail because of him [Goliath]; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Such is the plight and blessing of Christians to put their belief that God is present in all things and move faith and beliefs into action with the marginalized. Such is the plight and blessing of Christians to put their belief that God is present in all things and move faith and beliefs into action with diverse ethnic groupings. Such is the plight and blessing of Christians to put their belief that God is present in all things and move faith and beliefs into action with the suffering and oppressed. Our call is to engage injustice in all its forms.

The Gospel reading in Mark 4 asks us to hear Jesus’ words, “Peace! Be still!” quieting the storm. We are to put key Christian beliefs into action, thus quieting the storms in everyday life. In the storms in our lives and in the lives of those around us, we can rediscover our faith in the power of Jesus’ words to the wind and sea, “Peace! Be still!”[2]

Unjust realities confront us every day. The current discussions on race, the Juneteenth Federal Holiday, immigration, economic equity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender equality, both personally and in government, all have themes of justice and injustice woven throughout.

The storms rage, but Jesus states, “Peace! Be still!” When we put our faith, our beliefs into practice it is not faith that God will protect us, but faith and beliefs that conquer fear and secure us in God’s promise that death has been defeated and will never win. The storms outside aggravate the storms within. Each of us might want to acknowledge our fears.

Nine years ago, Wednesday, June 19th, Dylann Roof was charged with nine counts of murder and bond was set at $1,000,000. In this initial hearing, Roof faced families of some of the nine people he was accused of killing and heard words of forgiveness. At the bond hearing, Dylann Roof stood motionless while listening to the anguished words of relatives of victims he allegedly gunned down Wednesday night at a Bible study meeting at the historic Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. “I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you,” a daughter of Ethel Lance said. “And may God have mercy on your soul. …God forgives you, I forgive you.”[3] Dylann Roof received justice for his crimes. He also was offered forgiveness by his victims.

Like David, who did not demonize the Philistines, a legitimate enemy of the people of Israel and a different ethnic group, put your faith into action, personally and collectively. Engage “the other.” David did not fear “the other”, Goliath, but trusted in God. David, defeating Goliath, was a witness to the Philistines of the true nature of the Israelites’ God.

Jesus addressed the value of multi-ethnic faith communities when meeting the woman at the well, a Samaritan, and the Syrophoenician woman begging for the crumbs on the floor, and we are to do the same as his followers. Jesus wants all to be touched by and touch Jesus. Diversity in human ethnicity is ordained by God.

Ponder these key Christian beliefs. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Love God and love others. Mourn with others. Endure persecution for doing the right thing. Serve the least.

Embrace the diversity, ethnically, in humanity. Discover the contrast between hero and villain, victor and vanquished, and vulnerability and strength. Lean into the ultimate power of love to overcome the storms within and without.[4] Spiritual understanding leads to a way of being rooted in love and justice.

Like David, examine your unexamined assumptions.[5] Listen intently to your fears and speak into them.[6] Receive and act on Jesus’ words, “Peace! Be still!” Amen.

This sermon was preached the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost on Sunday, 23 June 2024

by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

 Copyright 2024.

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]Bryan Loritts, ed., Letters To A Birmingham Jail: A Response To The Words And Dreams Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2014), 20.

[2]In the two paragraphs of textual analysis above, I have benefited from the thinking of Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, J. Scott Hudgins, Eunjoo Mary Kim, Scot McKnight, Dan R. Dick, William Greenway, and David J. Schlafer in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year B, Volume 3 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020), 89-93, 93-95, 96-99, 100-102, 102-103, 104-106 and 106-107.

[3]Adapted from a CNN report on www.cnn.com, June 19, 2015.

[4]Adapted from William Greenway in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year B, Volume 3, 105.

[5]Adapted from J. Scott Hudgins in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year B, Volume 3, 95.

[6]Adapted from David J Schlafer in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year B, Volume 3, 107.

 

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