How do we know who deserves help?

This message was delivered in both services at Holy Trinity Lutheran in Chapel Hill. They were a lovely, welcoming group and I'm happy to know I will be speaking to them again next week. This week the passage from Genesis raised some questions and it was fascinating to me how the passage from Luke answered those questions.

The texts for the week are:

Genesis 19:20-32

Psalm 138

Colossians 2:6-19

Luke 11:1-13

Come Holy Spirit. Show us with your extravagant, audacious love as we come to know you in prayer. Amen.

The story in today’s Old Testament lesson always reminds me of the way young people negotiated when I was a high school teacher. It was all about testing boundaries, and although the ultimate goal might have been to know where the boundaries were to live within them, the testing could be ruthless. Most of the time it felt MUCH more like they were just trying to find weak spots so they could identify workarounds, technicalities, and loopholes.

I eventually figured out that things went better if I didn’t have too many rules. Rules seemed to lead to more loopholes and way too often ended up in conversations that, 

Well…

Conversations that sound a lot like the one Abraham had with God in today’s reading. Those conversations WORE – ME – OUT.

As a result, I MARVEL at how patient God is with Abraham. To every question Abraham asked, God seems to be saying “hmmm… ok, yes, let’s do that!”

In fact, God was so agreeable to everything that Abraham asked that I have often wondered: what if Abraham had kept on going?

What if he had said “ok, God, what if there are FIVE faithful people? Or 1? What about zero!?! Would you preserve them simply out of love? Completely undeserved love? Based entirely on who you are?”

Seriously! Why did Abraham quit asking? Can we actually know enough about God to predict how that conversation might have gone?

Why did God keep saying “Ok”?

Where is the vengeful God that many people think resides in the Old Testament? Where is the bloodthirsty punishing God?

Could it be that God was so susceptible to Abraham’s flattery that he was tricked? That God simply could not tell Abraham no?

Or – could it be that God was (once again) showing a pattern of preference for redemption? That what sounds a little obsequious and flattering was instead simply the truth: God would NEVER want to hurt the righteous?

Do you suppose Abraham later saw what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah and thought… what if I had asked one more time? 

Because it is so, so hard to know… is NOW the moment to give up? Should I ask for an even more extravagant gift? 

Is NOW the moment that I decide there is no more hope, or should I keep waiting and hoping and listening for one more hour, or one more week, or maybe another month? Or a year? When is it enough?

But WAIT! That is the very question Jesus answers for us today in the gospel lesson! Jesus answers the disciples’ request for a prayer with one that seems to say 

          “you’re the kind of God who wants us to be fed, 

                    who wants us to be forgiven so we can start fresh, 

                              who wants us to be kept away from trouble.”

And just in case we miss the point that the prayer is an acknowledgment of who God IS, not what we want, Jesus then offers not one but two object lessons:

1. Persistence can be as important as anything else in getting our needs being met and

2. God is at least as kind (and actually kinder) to all God’s people than you are towards your children

This is likely not a big surprise to any of you – that God is kind. But sometimes we forget, or get so wrapped up in our lives that who God is gets disconnected from what we do in our everyday lives.

For example, as we have been setting up the Parktown Food Hub, we have emphasized collecting donated food that is not connected to any federal program. We do that to emphasize the meaning of our priority to keep the hub open to anyone with need. We are very proud of that, and feel that every person deserves to have good, nutritious food no matter what else is happening in their lives.

And people love to hear it!

But lots of people also have to ask: how do you know who’s in need?

Our answer to that question is that if they show up, we assume they are in need.

But the next question is often something like “so you don’t do income checks?” as if the only reasons that people might need food are related to financial circumstances. Sometimes they are, but I realized as I was studying today’s texts that there are two ways to approach responding to need:

1. Go to great lengths to keep out people who may have dishonest motivations, even if there is a risk of leaving out someone.

2. Go to great lengths to not leave out anyone who might have a need, even if it means people with dishonest motivations are included.

This side of heaven, in a broken world with an imbalance of resources, we tend to want to find some middle ground, or balance – cast the net wide but avoid being tricked.

But in today’s texts, and in so many other places across Scripture, it simply does not seem that God is all that worried about balance. 

Certainly not in the conversation with Abraham! 

Not in Jesus’ stories of responding, once to persistence and the other based on love.

So…

WHAT IF God just doesn’t care about this idea we have of “balance”?

WHAT IF God just wants to show unrestrained, extravagant, lavish love?

WHAT IF God sees all need as the need for one thing: love. 

WHAT IF God looks at people coming to a food pantry, even people who are inclined to “game the system”, behaving in aggressive ways and getting irritable and argumentative over things like whether there is enough of the BEST applesauce… 

And all God sees is a person in need of love. Hungry for food, but also for community, and respect, and grace.

Because maybe that frustrating and frustrated person feels so out of control, so vulnerable, the food in the pantry becomes a flimsy barrier between the person and a life overwhelmed. And if that is the case, Jesus would not care whether they double-dipped on applesauce, or scammed the system by sending an adult child living in their household so they get two boxes of food instead of one. Jesus would look at those beloved children of God and say…

I know what you really need. You need love, and I have made it possible for those around you to focus on sharing that love – because I have given them all they need.

Jesus would say you need someone who will love you so much that you do not have to justify your existence or hunger or need.

You need someone who will give you anything to show you how much they care.

You need someone who would do everything to remove the barriers that stand between you and other people.

You need someone who would send their Son to show you how this activity called life is supposed to work.

You need ME, says Jesus. I have been there. I lived among you, fully human (and wearied by all those arguments sometimes!), and I died. But I did not stay dead because I did what you cannot do: I fulfilled the Law. I have taken care of everything that needs to be taken care of. I showed you God’s preference for redemption first hand, clearly, beyond denial.

In my Resurrection, says Jesus, I simplified everything as much as I could – reduced all the rules with their loopholes down to one thing:         Love.

I have loved you because you exist exactly as you are.

I have taken away everything that might keep us apart – everything that keeps you apart from each other. The world is still broken but you do not have to be overwhelmed… because you have me, says Jesus.

So the next time you wonder if maybe it’s too dangerous to love extravagantly 

          by making eye contact with a panhandler 

                    by offering forgiveness and grace to someone who has big problems because of their 

                    own bad judgement and choices

                               by showing up in situations that are supremely inconvenient and “not your job”

                                         by befriending someone with different political opinions that you have

Remember… when you show love in ways that seem risky or that don’t make sense  – you are behaving in the pattern of God.

Remember Abraham asking that God save all the wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah just so that no righteous people would be harmed.

Remember the persistence, that in showing love to others – by loving without qualifying requirements – we are following Jesus and being a tiny bit more like God. We can never be God, of course, but we can lean that way.

And when we do not have it in us to do even the one thing left – to show that kind of love – Jesus is there filling the gap, redeeming our wrongs, giving us hope when on our own we can only be hopeless.

Remember and rejoice that Jesus did all the hard work so we are redeemed and can start fresh in any given moment… loving with the extravagant, lavish love of a God who would spare nothing to preserve each and every one of God’s children.

Amen.

Parktown Food Hub is open!

Yesterday was the opening ceremony for the Parktown Food Hub. Below are the comments from that opening ceremony. The names are the names of the people who said those sections - some people ad libbed, others stuck to the script. It was beautiful and the start of something that is entirely in God's hands. My hope and prayer and fervent dream is that that is where Parktown Food Hub stays forever.



<Pastor Anita>

Blessing The Threshold 
By Jan Richardson


This blessing
has been waiting for you
for a long time.

While you have been
making your way here
this blessing has been
gathering itself
making ready
biding its time
praying.

This blessing has been
polishing the door
oiling the hinges
sweeping the steps
lighting candles
in the windows.

This blessing has been
setting the table
as it hums a tune
from an old song
it knows,
something about
a spiraling road
and bread
and grace.

All this time
it has kept an eye
on the horizon,
watching,
keeping vigil,
hardly aware of how
it was leaning itself
in your direction.

And now that
you are here
this blessing
can hardly believe
its good fortune
that you have finally arrived,
that it can drop everything
at last
to fling its arms wide
to you, crying
welcome 
welcome
welcome.


<Lisa>WELCOME to the Parktown Food Hub!!

Today we might add to those beautiful words of Jan Richardson:

This blessing has been priming and painting walls, scrubbing floors, painting freezers, moving refrigerators, removing cabinet doors, assembling desks. This blessing has been repurposing children’s cubbies into bookshelves and shopping for large clocks. This blessing has been coming from many directions.

Today we are here at the beginning of something that is also the end of something else and a long path of people finding their ways here – of you finding your way here – to celebrate the opportunity to know and love all the people in our community. We are grateful for the volunteers and prayer partners that you will hear from next, and for the donors who gave money, supplies, and professional support for preparing this space. Major donors so far have been Triangle Pharmacy Ace Hardware for paint and supplies, RTI International for a cash, Parkwood HOA for proceeds from the SummerFest raffle, Immaculate Conception Catholic congregation for our first stocking of food and Pastor Johel Rodriguez who is also a professional painter.

<Sharon> This blessing is one of abundance! Donated paint and supplies, donated food, donated shelves. Shared scaffolding and generous gifts of time and expertise. There have been many conversations and hopes and dreams, many of which were completely independent of one another:

The day Lisa Greene and I were talking about how to use a potentially abundant funding from RTI International, we hit upon the idea of food pantry space to strengthen connections within the South Durham community

The day when Small World Day Care owner Dianne Mitchell made the difficult decision to retire, opening up space in the building and providing an abundance of space to make the hub possible.

<Bob Newlin> The years when I worked with Jan and Herb Schwarze, Brenda and Frank Stephens, and so many members of the Parkwood UMC congregation faithfully gather turkeys and stuffing mix and gravy and cranberry sauce to share with neighbors for holiday feasts.

<Pastor Anita> The day when I came to Parkwood, prepared to love and serve faithfully and work with the people in this place.

<Mike B> The day when the Parkwood UMC Administrative Board did an indepth study of their presence in the community and decided to turn their congregational face outward, towards others.

<Pastor Johel> The day when Avivamiento Latino Church started workshiping in this space, bringing joy and spirit and energy and creating a new way of doing ministry together.

<Aja> The dreaming that I (Aja Purnell-Mitchell) did with my husband Jon and colleague Sheri Starks and so many others in the community that there would be a hub in which boxes of food become a reason for connection but not the entire connection.

<Matt> The day I (Matt Babaian) enthusiastically embraced the hub by writing a proposal to Rotary International for support, bringing friends to paint, sharing his scaffolding, and always looking for ways to participate.

<Sharon> There was no one start to the Parktown Food Hub. Everyone here is a part of what this place will become in the years to come.

A space that was cleaned and painted in hundreds of person-hours over a one-week period: an abundance of helpers, too many names to mention, people who barely knew each other if they knew each other at all. The day that Pastor Anita, Lisa, and Sharon backed up Bob Newlin in scrubbing floors – sometimes on hands and knees. The days that Pastor Johel spent sharing his professional equipment and expertise to make sure that the painting could be completed in time. The daily drop-ins of Jimmy Layman, always at the right time to do the task that most needed to be done, always with a smile and a wave. The 25 community members who came from all over to put shelves together and put the food on shelves. The many more volunteers who will come be a part of this South Durham movement. The people who will be forming South Durham Connections.

This space has been given an abundance of new life, taking its place in the long line of community outreach and engagement that Parkwood UMC has offered.

<Autumn> This time, however, it goes beyond the United Methodist Church. Many of you who are present are here because the hub is an opportunity and matches your life values, without needing to be a part of Parkwood UMC. We are all one. This is a ministry of community, and Parkwood UMC is an important part of that community in graciously provided abundant support for this hub. But you can come here and be who you are. All are welcome. We are Brethren, Methodists, Lutherans, Wesleyans, Atheists, Agnostics, Baptists, Episcopalians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and that largest group of all: Searching. An abundance of perspectives that together make us stronger.

<Pastor Anita> Between the walls and the paint in the hub are an abundance of blessings, many of them brought by you. Bible verses in English and Spanish, musical quotes and best wishes from Girl Scouts, poetry and prayers. All that blessing and hope and grace will always surround us, always be present in the work of the hub.

Whoever you are, we love you and we hope you keep coming back, bringing your abundant gifts and heart and thoughts to this place of community caring for community.


AND NOW – WE DECLARE THE PARKTOWN FOOD HUB OPEN! – (Ribbon Cutting here)


<Sharon>Thank you for coming today! We hope you come back often. Our first food distributions will be on August 12 and August 26 – we have flyers with all the details.

In a moment we will open the doors and you will be able to get a sneak peek of the hub. We have FAQs and people will be around to answer questions you have that are not in the FAQ page. And then… please stay and enjoy the water slide and hot dogs and other gifts offered lovingly by the people of Parkwood UMC and the staff of the Parktown Food Hub. And now, before the fun begins in earnest, please receive this rich and abundant blessing, written by Jan Richardson:



<Sharon>
And the Table Will Be Wide
A Blessing for World Communion Sunday
By Jan Richardson


And the table
will be wide.
And the welcome
will be wide.
And the arms
will open wide
to gather us in.
And our hearts
will open wide
to receive.

And we will come
as children who trust
there is enough.
And we will come
unhindered and free.
And our aching
will be met
with bread.
And our sorrow
will be met
with wine.

And we will open our hands
to the feast
without shame.
And we will turn
toward each other
without fear.
And we will give up
our appetite
for despair.
And we will taste
and know
of delight.

And we will become bread
for a hungering world.
And we will become drink
for those who thirst.
And the blessed
will become the blessing.
And everywhere
will be the feast.



Go in peace! Love each other! Look at the Parktown Food Hub and have a good time!




1

It's not all about you - the kingdom of God is near

Today I preached at Holy Trinity Lutheran in Chapel Hill, and am grateful for the opportunity. I wish I had a recording because I did not stick closely to the script (below) and some of the non-scripted parts were pretty fun and energetic. But such is life, right?

Texts for the week are:
Isaiah 66:10-14
Psalm 66:1-9
Galatians 6:1-16
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Come Holy Spirit. Take these words where you will. Show us your kingdom. Amen.

In today’s gospel text, the disciples are sent out in sets of two. Depending on the translation you read Jesus sent either 35 or 36 pairs. But I have questions!

* How far did they go?
* How long were they gone?
* And what about those unwelcoming places? What are we to make of them?

But the big thing that seems so very interesting to me is this:

The kingdom of God was everywhere, not just in the welcoming homes.  It came near whether the disciples were welcomed or not.

The kingdom of God came near to the people who rejected the disciples, too!

The kingdom of God has come near either way, which seems to indicate that God’s presence does not depend on our responses to each other. That as people who are taking our faith and witness out into the communities around us, OUR behavior or efforts are not what determines whether or not God being near.

Furthermore, while Jesus does say that rejecting the disciples is a rejection of God, he does not authorize the disciples to respond on God’s behalf. Instead he says … go on your way.

So if our behaviors don’t determine whether God is present or not, what is this story about?

I wonder if this example might help:

In my work with South Durham Connections, we had a panel discussion a couple weeks ago. Four atheists who live and work in South Durham talked about how they came to hold the belief systems they hold. The audience included people across a wide range of belief systems – from Christian pastors to avowed atheists. But we were all there together, we all listened, and everyone seemed so happy to be there. The discussion continued afterwards for nearly an hour. We all got along, and we all had things to think about.

I think that is an example of how the kingdom of God is as near to those atheists as it is to me. The distinction is not what we believe, but whether we are willing to engage with each other, welcome each other, learn about each other. So when those four people came and shared their lives, and my Christian friends were in the audience listening, we had a relationship. We shared food. It was good. We did not agree, but it was good. I believe that in that moment we were all doing what God asks of us: we were loving each other.


I’ve also been in church council meetings that, well, let’s just say they were not as harmonious as the session with atheists and Christians. Despite professing the same faith – and not just Christian but the same version of Christianity – the people in the meeting had a really hard time listening to each other. There were factions and anger, sullen silence and noisy intimidation. Not all in one meeting, of course, but if you have ever been on a contentious church council you probably have a sense of what I mean. We want to say “Of course the kingdom of God was near… it’s church council! For our particular brand of agreed-upon faith!” And yet. For more than one council member (and even a few pastors) the only solution was to walk away. To leave the contentiousness behind. The kingdom of God was near, but the people involved simply could not figure out how to live and work in relationship.


In our text, Jesus tells the disciples to go. But did you notice that Jesus did not authorize punitive measures? Maybe Jesus knew that when we disagree there are never winners and losers – there is only relationship and communication… or not. And that relationship and communication does not depend so much on whether people see God in the same way as their willingness to see each other in the same way: as people worthy of a voice, worthy of being heard, worthy of being loved. We are closer to God when we love each other, not when we punish each other.

~~~

It seems, in fact, that the kingdom of God depends only on … GOD.

So when things went well, and the disciples were well-received and everyone got along, REALLY GREAT THINGS happened. Healing, overcoming demons, peaceful homes. Disagreements set aside in favor of understanding. The kingdom of God was near. When South Durham atheists and Christians sat down to learn about each other’s lives in a caring way, everyone left energized and enthusiastic, feeling like something special had just happened.

And when things did not go well, and the disciples were not well-received and they had to leave (but not condemn!) the town missed out on those gifts of healing and freedom from demons and peaceful homes. BUT! The kingdom of God was still near, even if the people did not receive the gifts that were there for them. Just like those contentious church council meetings. People missed out on the energy of working together, but God was still in the middle of all of it.

~~~

It seems like such gentle evangelism, doesn’t it?

Go. Offer good things.  If people do not want them, do not try to force it. Let it go in the service of love and go find a place where it is possible to build relationships. Somewhere there is someone who will say yes.

Now, this is not to say that we stomp off when others see things differently than we do. This is not a matter of giving up before trying. But sometimes relationships are not going to click, and rather than fight and cause destruction, it is sometimes time to go.

Knowing that even in those painful moments, it will be ok because the kingdom of God will always be near, regardless.


So there y’go. At this point in a sermon – the point where I have summarized what Jesus seems to be directing us to do – I’m always tempted to say “got it? Ok, go ahead. Go now and do that.” Today it would be… go find people and make relationships and don’t worry if they get mad at you or rebuff your efforts. Sounds good, right?

But what I’m actually thinking is more like HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE???

If Jesus is saying “ok, go on out there and make friends, build relationships over whatever food people share with you, and if people do not want to be in relationship then maybe it’s not their time so just go on, find someone else, there will always be someone else.”

Go on and love and when the demons are cast out, and the bodies and minds and spirits are healed…

When anger and fear are replaced with friendship and mutual respect…

Do not be impressed with yourself.

Because the good stuff is not because of your skill or talent. Sometimes the relationships will work, and sometimes they won’t, and that is the human way. But what makes it work is this:

The kingdom of God is near.

Our names are written in heaven, not because of what we do, but because Jesus lived:
Jesus showed us how to care and be in relationship and love one another.

Because Jesus suffered:
He loved everybody. He was so good at being in relationship with all kinds of people that the people who relied on religious and political power rather than relationship got mad.

Jesus died:
Because Jesus was so good at relationship that people got REALLY mad.

And then…
Jesus was Resurrected: he came back to life and stayed that way forever.

In his life, Jesus showed us what it’s like when the kingdom of God is near because he could do nothing else. He was God, and where he went, so also went the kingdom of God.

Because of the Resurrection, because Jesus did not succumb to death, because the kingdom built on God’s love far transcends anything we can even imagine, our names are written in heaven. Now THAT is something to celebrate! THAT is fuel for a life of relationship building.

So go out today, and tomorrow, and every day to come. Find surprising relationships. Let go of things that seem like they should be good – but they just aren’t. Let love guide what you do and who you are. Live like the kingdom of God is near.

Because it is.

Amen.