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"In Court," Rev. Fred Kinsey

5/20/2020

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Readings for Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 17, 2020
  • Acts 17:22-31  
  • Psalm 66:8-20  
  • 1 Peter 3:13-22  
  • John 14:15-21


IN COURT Sermon by Pastor Fred
In the highest Courts of democracy in Athens, Paul testifies about Jesus.  Okay, it was also the court of their religion.  They didn’t separate the two institutions like we do.  But Paul was certainly far from Jerusalem and Antioch, when he was dropped in, to the heart of western philosophy and the birthplace of democracy. 
 
This was the city of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.  The city that welcomed, and craved new ideas, and debated them lustily.  It was the place of the Parthenon, and every other famous shrine to the Greek pagan gods, much of which still stands today. 
 
There in Athens, Paul will get in trouble for his preaching, as he so often did.  He will also gain some new followers, even some of their important leaders, according to Acts, like Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.  Actually, he’s already in trouble before that. 
 
Paul starts by reaching out to the Jewish community in Athens, like he does in every city, before visiting the famous Agora, the marketplace, to engage the citizens of Athens, people just shopping and hanging out, if you can remember what that’s like!  And one day, some philosophers of the popular Epicurean and Stoic schools, stepped in to debate him as well.  And it’s around these conversations that apparently some take offense at Paul.  On the one hand, they derogatorily call him a “babbler,” that is, somebody who’s picking up and relating various bits of arguments to puff himself up, while trying to sell them something.  Like your wild west snake oil salesman, or a contemporary Reality TV personality.
 
But others have a more serious charge, that he is a proclaimer of foreign deities – very similar to the charge brought against Socrates himself, 5 centuries earlier.  Though some also think Resurrection, in addition to Jesus, is one of the deities he’s peddling!  Jews, of course, wouldn’t make that mistake, even if they rejected Paul’s message.  But the Athenians, so steeped in a pantheon of gods represented in the many gold, silver and stone statues all around them in the marketplace, confuse Resurrection — the power of salvation, and, font of new life – with just one more possible god they should consider worshipping. 
 
So they bring Paul to a kind of pre-trial discovery hearing to stand before the Areopagus.  Like our word church, meaning both the people and the building, the Areopagus could mean its democratic body of elected’s, or the actual Areopagus building – or maybe both.  In any case, that Paul has spent time discussing religion with Athenians of every stripe, in the days leading up to this moment, must have been, suddenly, very helpful.  And he decides not to give his regular stump speech, but is able to tailor his remarks to his audience. 
 
"Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way,” Paul begins (flattery, will get you everywhere!).  “For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’” 
 
Pretty clever, picking up on that one, I thought, among the dozens of gods.  But it makes for something he has in common with them, a starting-off place for Paul’s message.  “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.  24The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.” 
 
This was pretty bold for Paul to proclaim, even given, that it was true!  There he stood, surrounded by the shrines of Greek religion, housed in some of the most magnificent monuments anywhere, and in so many words, said they were small and inconsequential, compared to the living God and creator of all things! 
 
So, Paul was tactful, but he didn’t mince words.  In his more secular approach, he didn’t slight or misrepresent the glory and grace of the King of kings, and Lord of lords.  And like all good leaders, he ends on a decision point.  “God overlooked our past misunderstandings about religion as long as we didn’t know any better,” said Paul – “but that time is past.  The unknown is now known, and God’s calling for a radical life-change.  God has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right.  And God has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.”  (trans: The Message)
 
In his whole speech, Paul never even uses the name Jesus, or his title, the Christ.  But he has made a strong case for him in the minds of his listeners.  In his pre-trial appearance, he has given them all they need to know, to make a decision.  He has set the stage for those who hear the word, and who will follow, when Paul will have another chance to deepen their faith, and move them toward baptism in Christ. 
 
We also are on trial in this time of COVID-19.  This is our pre-trial in the Agora, in courts of democracy, waning as they are.  We need to bring it to the sacred halls at every level.  The foundations of our faithfulness in Christ are being shaken, as if by an earthquake.  Are the meek to inherit the earth, as Jesus proclaimed?  Are the poor to receive the kingdom of God coming down out of heaven like a bride to meet her bridegroom?  Are those who mourn to be comforted? 
 
Like the earthquake that shook the jail in Philippi, the city that Paul and his companions had recently left, they could have sat stunned and frozen in fear, or they could open their eyes to the possibility starring them in the face – which is what they chose.  They took it as an opportunity to save all those with them, the imprisoned and the jailer.  They lived out their faith in the God who was creator of all, slave and free, and even of earthquakes; they feared not, and continued on faithfully with the opportunity that was afforded them.  Such a trusting and simple choice resulted in the adoration of the jailer, who took them home, fed and clothed them, and he and all his household received the gift of baptism from Paul. 
 
Covid-19 is our earthquake, from which we can choose to act faithfully, or in fear.  The pagan pantheon of false gods that has ruled almost every part of our lives, impoverishing us, pitting us against each other, and filling our heads with propaganda – like we can’t live faithfully in community and support one another in love, that it’s all up to us individually to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps – has been clearly exposed.  Healthcare, housing, and schools, banking, jobs, and our food supply, have all been shaken to the core, and are crumbling in this earthquake, due to the ‘American-Areopagus-Philosophers of austerity,’ who invest in the dead gods of gold and silver.  We were only barely getting by, before.  Now in this earthquake of a pandemic, we can see with clearer eyes – we can’t go back; we cannot go back, to normal.  And why would we want to?! 
 
“God will not leave us orphaned,” Jesus says in our gospel reading.  Indeed, he will send us another in his place, the Spirit of truth, one who will Advocate for us, and abide in, and with us, always. 
 
Jesus provides halls of justice for us.  He has shown us how very near God is, “indeed, God is not far from each one of us,” Paul says.  And having been made God’s “offspring,” he continues, “we live and move and have our being” in God.  In Jesus’ court, the world will be made right and just, through the power of love that is stronger than gold and silver shrines made by human hands, attempting to enshrine themselves. 
 
The power of the Resurrection is not a deity – a mere statuette.  But Jesus, who once was dead, is now alive, and ruling over all – our in-court Advocate – judging with forgiveness, grace and mercy. 
 
Let us bring this message to all the courts of God’s world, until the living One has redeemed and made us right, in the kingdom and realm of God. 
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Healthy Shepherding, Rev. Fred Kinsey

5/3/2020

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Readings for the 4th Sunday of Easter, GOOD SHEPHERD Sunday, May 3, 2020
  • Acts 2:42-47  
  • Psalm 23  
  • 1 Peter 2:19-25  
  • John 10:1-10

"Healthy Shepherding," by Pastor Fred
 7So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.
 
John, we know, uses a lot of shepherd and sheep metaphors in his gospel.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  Jesus is the Lamb of God.  And here, Jesus is the gate to the sheepfold. 
 
Psalm 23, gets right to the point.  “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” 
 
One of the earliest artistic renderings of Jesus, is, Jesus as the Shepherd, found in the catacombs. It’s the picture of Jesus with the lamb around his shoulders.  So, almost from the beginning, Jesus is known as the Good Shepherd, a descendant of David the shepherd boy, and our ultimate protector and savior – the healer of our every ill. 
 
And that’s what I want to talk with you about today – Jesus as our healer.  Jesus as our healthcare provider.  For the word for health, comes from the Greek word sotor, or Savior, and soteria, or salvation, meaning healing and wholeness, and also one who redeems, restores, sets free, and delivers from.
 
So when Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; … Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture,” Jesus is talking about protecting them from the false shepherds, and offering them the wholeness of salvation – a healing for all their oppressions and illnesses. 
 
They could go inside the gate and be safe.  But what’s more, they could – in their new found health and wholeness in Jesus – go out and find safe pasture.  Just as in Psalm 23:  2The Lord makes me lie down in green pastures, and leads me beside still waters. 3You restore my soul, O Lord, and guide me along right pathways for your name’s sake.
 
ELCA Pastor, Samuel Cruz says, “In Jesus’ day, those [elites] who could afford good healthcare and medicine, were not happy when the marginalized received good healthcare and medicine, from Jesus.”  We have thieves and bandits today, just like they did back then, and there is always a struggle for who is in control of healthcare. 
 
Jesus was nothing if not a healer in his ministry.  A quick search, in Matthew’s gospel alone, reveals how universal and inclusive his appeal, as healer and bringer of salvation, was. 

In Matthew 8.3-13
3He stretched out his hand and touched [the man with leprosy], saying, …Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy* was cleansed. 
And in the very next verse:
5 When [Jesus] entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him 6and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.’ 7And [Jesus] said to him, ‘I will come and cure him.’ 8The centurion answered, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed… 10When Jesus heard him, he was amazed  …13And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.’ And the servant was healed in that hour.
 
In Mt. Chapter 14;
34 When [Jesus and the disciples] had crossed over [Lake Galilee], they came to land at Gennesaret. 35After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word throughout the region and brought all who were sick to him, 36and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
 
And in the very next chapter, (Mt. 15):
30Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, 31so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
 
Every healthcare system is a reflection of its morals and beliefs.  How a society treats its sick and elderly, says everything about its values.  And the systems of healing, are at the same time, all about who gets healed, and who’s worth saving.  Even before the pandemic, our American healthcare was really, just a triage system of care.
 
Jesus preached and lived his healthcare values, when he made healing the sick, the lame, the rejected and the dying, central to his vision of the dawning kingdom of God, as he journeyed to Jerusalem, and toward his own suffering and death.  Fundamental to his message, was that, Healthcare was a human right; salvation is a gift from God; and there are always opposing systems and powers to such a belief, which he confronted and revealed.  In fact, his healings and exorcisms have been called, enacted parables, because of how they demonstrably reveal the life-giving power of the kingdom of God, in the presence of our enemies – as Psalm 23 says. 
 
When it comes to people’s health, Jesus seems to be saying, you don’t cut corners, and you don’t ration care!  You raise-up those who are forgotten.  You include those who are left out.  You heal everyone, rich and poor.  Jesus’ health plan was universal, a gift of salvation and redemption for all. 
 
On the other hand, public health scientist, Dr. Edgar Rivera Colón, painted a stark picture of our current system in America.  “The deaths that we're seeing today [in this pandemic] are directly related to the model of health care that's based upon just-in-time production.  You have as little inventory as you can and you cut costs as much as you can,” Colón said.  But, “You can't do that with healthcare without killing people. Throughout the last 40 years,” he says, “hospital beds have been cut, healthcare has been privatized more in this country, health care workers have been treated poorly. Very simply, [the American system] of healthcare [is] kill[ing] people.” 
 
Jesus’ system is – Everyone in, no one out!  Jesus is the gate-keeper.  He invites all to come into his sheep-pen to find safety and protection.  He heals us, and equips us to live, his life – a life of deep faith and spirituality, a life of active non-violence and speaking truth to the powers of evil, so that we can go out into green pastures as the people of God, knowing that baptized in Christ Jesus, we’ve already been made as dead as we ever can be, and so, we’re un-afraid to live in this world, as examples of love, healing, and wholeness. 
 
Jesus our Good Shepherd, protects and heals us, leads us beside still waters and guides us into pathways of justice and righteousness, all our days. 
 
We are, locked-in, the sheep-pen of our homes now, in this pandemic.  But we also have the Good Shepherd by our side, deepening our faith as the baptized people of God, to make us ready to go out into a ‘new normal’ – to embrace our good news message, and live it fully and confidently for the sake of the world – including, for a universal healthcare, that Jesus lived and revealed to all, in his saving love and grace, as God’s anointed one. 
 
Jesus is our gate, watching over our coming in and our going out – healing us, redeeming us, restoring us, and bringing us salvation.  
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