Readings for July 23, 2017 the 7th Sunday after Pentecost

• Isaiah 44:6-8 and Psalm 86:11-17  
• Romans 8:12-25  
• Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

"Living Together," Pastor Kinsey
Everywhere I drove in Iowa last week, on my vacation to a family wedding in Iowa City, I passed fields of corn.  Beautiful, healthy looking corn, already quite mature and tall.  The wedding took place a few miles outside of town in the bride’s home parish of “St Peter’s Catholic Church,” literally in the middle of acres and acres of corn!  A new community center across the street had a beautiful view of the rolling hills of corn as we watched the sunset on Friday night. 
 
Iowa is the corn capital of the US – followed closely by Illinois, of course.  Part of the reason the corn I saw looks so healthy is, there are no weeds.  No enemy of corn is able to take hold, because 93% of Iowa corn is GMO, genetically modified.  You buy the seed from the corporation who match it with their own certified pesticide, and who spray it on your crops as it grows, and like magic, no weeds, no critters, will come near.  Perfect crop every time! 
 
And what about the 7% of Iowa farmers that don’t go the GMO route?  Most are organic farmers. Organic farming recognizes that the plants, and weeds, grow together.  And that weeds aren’t necessarily all bad.  In fact, sometimes what we call weeds, used to be food, depending on what time, or what part of the world you live in.  For example, what we call pigweed is known as amaranth in Asia, South America and the Caribbean, and is a nutritious and tender salad, a beloved soup, or a tasty sauté. 
 
Which raises up the question, “What is a weed?” A standard definition is, that it’s a plant in the “wrong place at the wrong time.”  For example, a soybean plant in a soybean field, is a crop, but a soybean plant in a cornfield, that’s a weed!  So, in many situations, the so-called weeds are actually doing a lot of good. Weeds often have two or three times the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium as domesticated plants. This means they make good fertilizer when they break down.  You just have to make sure you cut them down before they go to seed – which is a pretty labor intensive way to farm.  (cf. www.christiancentury.org/article/2014-07/when-weed-weed)
 
And, if I read it right, this means that modern farming is not an equivalent to Jesus’ allegory of the wheat and the weeds – either GMO farming, or organic.  The first one, doesn’t ever have to confront weeds, killing off the enemy before he can even introduce the weeds, and the other considers them wayward foreigners that have lost their way and cuts them down to recycle their inherent nutritious value. 
 
Jesus assumes the weeds will be pulled, making it much too risky for the wheat, which could all too easily be pulled up at the same time.  Only at harvest can you separate them and also assure that the wheat will be fully mature. 
 
And, this assumption – that the wheat and weeds grow up and co-exist together – is what feeds the main point of the parable.  That allegorically, the fields – or “the world,” as Jesus says – are full of good and bad, of children of the kingdom and children of the enemy.  We all grow up together, for better or worse.  The sun and rain fall equally on the good and the bad – that’s how the world is!  Our world is a rich diversity of peoples.  In fact, we all, to a greater or lesser degree, fulfill that description of people who are individually a mix of both good and bad, of being well-intentioned and misinformed, privileged and bullied, discriminated against and extremely motivated, nerdy and sports minded, have done something foolish and got a break, cheated to get ahead and helped a friend in need, put a rival out of business and donated to a worthy cause, and so on. 
 
How do you separate out the wheat from the weeds when we all look so alike?  which is just what biblical commentators have pointed out – that one of the most common weeds that invaded wheat fields back Jesus’ time was the darnel weed, which looked nearly identical to a stalk of wheat!  And how easy it could be to cut down the wrong one! 
 
Jesus himself, was tragically cut down, in the assumption that he was a weed, an enemy who had infiltrated the field of the Roman Empire.  Jesus the Innocent One,
was crucified as an invader of the ‘kingdom of this world,’ ruled by strict hierarchy, with a merciless undemocratic iron fist, and by an endless machine of scapegoats that had been offered-up to keep the peace.  Jesus offered himself up, on purpose, with the knowledge of the Father, to bust through that old kingdom “since the foundation of the world,” as Matthew describes it, and to open our eyes and ears to “the kingdom of heaven!”  “Let anyone with ears listen!” as Jesus concluded our gospel reading today. 
 
The parable of the wheat and the weeds is not meant to teach us about farming.  Nor, on the other hand, is it to urge us to be complacent with the way things are – that since we can’t cut down the weeds now, we should just wait till the eschatological end of the age, when all those other bad apples will be righteously discarded in the furnace and, we’ll be saved.  No, the apocalyptic nature of this parable about the kingdom of heaven is an allegory of how Jesus the Christ has broken into our world, and the kingdom of God is now available to us, today.  This is about our lives now!  And it has consequences.  The good news is, we can choose today, for the kingdom of heaven. 
 
The gospel writer is illuminating an alternative understanding of the world, one that would directly oppose the Roman Emperor’s kingdom of Jesus’ time.  Our choice is, whose kingdom do we want to prevail?  Whose empire do we want to participate in?  (http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3350)
 
The structure of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus brought, limits how we can respond.  That is, we cannot conquer the enemy, using the enemy’s weapons of violence, bullying, and fear.  We are constrained by the cross and resurrection to love, as we take aim for an equality of justice.  But we are not constrained by the false structures of the kingdoms of this world whose purpose is to trick us into inaction.  We are not simply wheat or weeds, but children created by God in God’s image.  The structure of God’s kingdom is a life-giving one that can and will conquer the death-dealing of the enemy – that is our mission and ministry, even now. 
 
Therefore we reject all structures that sacrifice the wheat, in the name of burning up the weeds before it is harvest time – like racism, in all its forms; and capitalism, when and wherever it put’s profits above people; sexism and gender-norms, whenever it denies people for who they are; and war, whenever it claims it can falsely make peace, especially as an offensive weapon. 
 
When Jesus insists that we must live together, as wheat and the weeds, it is a prophetic word of wisdom that goes beyond our worldly knowledge of the way things work.  Jesus offers us an opportunity in this Good News, to re-create ourselves and our world with each new day, each new Son-rise.  This is the power of the resurrection in our world, and the in-breaking of the kingdom of heaven. 
   
So, let us grow strong together, that the harvest may be plentiful,
 and the feast to come, unending!  

Readings for July 2, 2017 the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 13)

• Jeremiah 28:5-9 and Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18  
• Romans 6:12-23   
• Matthew 10:40-42

Freedom's Fullness, by Rev. Fred Kinsey
One of my favorite things on the 4th of July is waking up to the Declaration of Independence on National Public Radio.  In familiar voices, the hosts and reporters all take turns reading one section at a time.  I’m not sure how long it takes, maybe 5, or even 10 minutes?  But it’s impressive!  There is stirring background music that heightens the tension as they transition from one reader to another: “When in the course of human events… we hold these truths to be self-evident, … that we’re endowed with certain unalienable rights …among them, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness… The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, … establish[ing] … an absolute Tyranny over these States…  
 
“He has refused …He has forbidden … He has dissolved … He has endeavored to prevent… He has obstructed… He has plundered…  imposing Taxes on us without our Consent… and For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury… We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, … do, … solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States…” 
 
It’s exhilarating to hear it read-aloud like that.  To think back to that time and the risk they were taking.  Although skirmishes of the Revolutionary War had already begun the previous year, it was a bold declaration that Jefferson had crafted.  They were officially standing up to the world’s #1 power. 
 
But consensus to sign-on to this Declaration, seemed to build most powerfully around the desire to be free from tyranny and oppression – to have the right to determine their own destiny and not be enslaved to any other, to an overlord who didn’t have their best interests in mind.
 
And that’s just what’s inherently built-in to most all of us, I think we might be able to conclude.  It’s the foundational story of the Hebrew people, as well, as told in the Torah, in the experience and story of the Exodus, celebrated at Passover – when the Israelites were freed by God, from slavery in Egypt, and brought through the wilderness, and into receivership of the Promised Land.  Nothing is more integral to the identity of the Jews.
 
And St Paul says, in our 2nd Reading, that that is basically the story of Jesus, in his suffering, death and resurrection.  Our longing for freedom and liberation is satisfied, and completed, in our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection. 
 
But, it is not a freedom that is like every other liberation out there, either – not one amongst many – but for the Disciple, baptism is life-changing.
 
The oppressions and enslavements we experience in our lives, whether from a ‘tyrannical government,’ or other codified slavery, entrapment, or poverty, are just the outward forms of, the Power of Sin-itself.  This created world is not perfect, and neither are we, as humans.  But we have enormous ‘freedom of choice,’ as God’s creatures, who are made in God’s image.  The question is, how do we make good and Godly choices, and avoid the deadly separation from God and our neighbor that is our universal condition of Sin?! 
 
This was the issue in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “Shall we then be sinners,” says Paul, “because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!”  Paul undoubtedly shocked his listeners by implying that giving-up living under the Torah, the Law, was sinful instead of, as every Jew knew it to be, life-giving.  Paul, like Jesus – who were both, incidentally, good Jews – believed that the Torah was a blessing and gift.  Yet at bottom, we are all enslaved to the Power of Sin in the world.  And Paul’s interest here, is more about our behavior than our religious identity – how do we make good and Godly choices, and avoid the power of sin? 
 
In the Hellenistic world of Paul and Jesus, everyone was subject to someone above them.  The Greco-Roman hierarchy was well defined all the way up to the Emperor.  And Paul’s point is that, ‘all human existence takes place in slavery, to one slavemaster or the other,’(N.T.Wright, Romans NIB) which would have made perfect sense to his contemporaries. 
 
To us, not so much!  In this country whose story is founded on its Declaration of Independence, 1) we thrive on meta-narratives like, “give me liberty, or give me death;” and 2) the actually history of slavery in this country, is still not easy, or often, talked about – and its affects, rarely acknowledged or admitted, to this day.  To say we are “enslaved” to anyone, even Christ – whether we’re black or white, is fraught and loaded terminology.
 
And yet, as a baptized people, we cannot turn our backs on Paul’s letter to the Romans and our founding story.  It seems to me that we have a choice: is our story going to be, freedom for freedom’s sake, liberty to do whatever I decide I want to do?  Or, is our meta-story found in God’s freedom, in the death and resurrection of Christ?  In being “set free from sin… to become slaves of righteousness,” as Paul put it.
 
If- the Power of Sin in the world, is that ‘all human existence takes place in slavery, to one slavemaster or the other,’ then the truth is that we need an authority in our lives that is both ethical and fair – big enough to be life-giving, and intimate enough to know us and look out for our best interests.  We need a Christ who sets us free, but doesn’t abandon us.  We need a Savior who has been to the depths of Hades yet who reigns from on high.  We need a Parent who forgives us, even when we fall short.  We need a Lord who has emptied himself to suffer an innocent death, yet was raised to new life.  We need ‘the way, the truth, and the life,’ to inspire our hearts and minds to believe! 
 
That is how we are made right – ‘justified’ – in this world, and empowered to hold our heads high, submitting ourselves to a life of faith-active-in-love.  We are justified by the Grace of God, through the faith of Christ -and in Christ.  There is no program or religious test for this – it’s a matter of the heart, a leap of faith, and a risk.  All we have is our Christian-Exodus story, a daily washing in the baptismal waters, a dying and rising to creatively face-up to the human-existence-story of enslavements. 
 
And so we cannot make any laws for others, or dictate our cultural norms on others, as a condition for believing in this Messiah and King.  That would be just another way of imposing slavery, rather than journeying into freedom. 
 
And, so it’s always worth considering, how much we overlook the ways that we re-construct “law” amongst us, just because we sometimes want to keep our fear of, less familiar mores, at bay.  How often, for instance, do those who are different, meet in us, not grace and welcome, but suspicious looks, inhospitable entitlement?  In Christ’s freedom we need to constantly evaluate ourselves, so that our treatment of others is not contingent on age, experience, social or political circles, or other hurdles we place before the new-comer or stranger, lest we return to our old lives of Sin.  
 
Paul says, those who are not under law are “sanctified” – that is “set apart” for God’s use, rather than Sin’s (Kyle Fever, workingpreacher.org).  A disciple’s life of faith is not imposed.  It is not learned, or memorized.  It is received, implanted in our lives, that Christ may grow the fruit of grace in us. 
 
And so, our longing to Declare our freedom, finds fullness and satisfaction, in giving ourselves over completely, to the only one who will not re-enslave us.  Let us bow down and worship the crucified and risen one, the one who knows us intimately and completely – who has conquered the Power of Sin, once and for all, who is our Suffering Servant, and righteous-liberator! 

Readings for June 25, 2017 the Third Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 12)

• Jeremiah 20:7-13 and Psalm 69:7-10, (11-15), 16-18  
• Romans 6:1b-11  
• Matthew 10:24-39

Secrets Revealed
In 2001, Kenneth Feinberg, a fair and well-liked attorney, was appointed to head the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund.  He was tasked with determining how much money each surviving family should receive from the sum, of the overwhelming amount of donations, that poured in from across the country, and the world.  He worked, painstakingly, to take into consideration all the details he could – like their age, their income and earning potential, the size of the family and number of dependents, and whether or not they had other life insurance policies.  In the end, his formula produced a compensation scale of between $250,000 for blue collar workers, and, on the top end, executives who received as much as, $7.1M. 
 
It was an exhausting task, no doubt, and when he was finished, Feinberg took time to reflect on the experience.  And the biggest take-away was, after “I met with the 9/11 families,” as he told NPR, “I began to question this basic premise of our legal system.  Trained in the law, I had always accepted, that no two lives were worth the same, in financial terms.  But now I found the law in conflict with my growing belief, in the equality of all life.”
 
Jesus tells his newest followers to, “have no fear” of going out into the world with the message of Good News.  “…Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; …Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. …So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” 
 
A sparrow, the most common of birds, was the poor person’s #1 protein meal choice – the ground chuck, or Hamburger Helper of the day.  Jesus assures us that, God loves and cares for each and every sparrow, and not one sparrow’s life is outside the prevue of God.  And to all of us, Jesus says, “you are of more value than many sparrows!” 
 
Some of you will remember David Sural, who was our office manager about 8, 9 years ago, which was right at the time of financial collapse that precipitated the Great Recession.  And when the economic stimulus was announced, shortly after coming into office by President Obama, I remember David saying, wouldn’t it be better to just give the money directly to each adult person in the country, instead of funneling it through income tax returns?  My first reaction was, I’m sure they would if they could.  There’s probably some perfectly good reason why that won’t work, though.
 
But now I’m not so sure.  Aside from the extra mailing costs, it turns out that if we would have done it David’s way, and everyone would have gotten an equal, simple, direct check, much more money would have gotten into the hands of lower income folks, and more of it, economists agree, would have been spent on every day goods, and gotten into the economy much quicker.  While what actually happened was, the greater your income level on your tax return was, the more you got, and those who were well-off already, didn’t need to spend it, and so it didn’t help the economy as much as hoped for, nor did it help those needing the most financial leg-up, like David Sural and all of us!  
 
How do we value lives?  Are some lives of more value than others? 
 
As Julian of Norwich, in the late 14 C. wrote, in her simple ‘vision of the hazelnut,’ as it was called: “I marveled how it might last,” she wrote of the hazelnut, “for it seemed it might suddenly have sunk into nothing because of its littleness. And I was answered in my vision: ‘It lasts and ever shall, because God loves it.’”
 
To God, our lives have value, in and of themselves – far beyond any financial economy of scale.  Each of us, in our rainbow variety and beautifulness, are treasured.  We have value because we are God’s creatures, made in God’s image, just like the sparrows.  Jesus values all lives equally, but especially goes out of his way to point out how true that is for ‘the least of these,’ and the pernicious disparity and inequality of our human systems that make it so, by lifting up those who are all too often trampled on, and forgotten.  
 
26“So have no fear of them;” says Jesus, “for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.”  Jesus encourages us to keep our eye on the prize, that is, that in, and with, God, all things will be redeemed; In God’s blessing and grace, we have no fear; ‘God’s eye is on the sparrow, and I know God watches me.’  So there is nothing we can hide from one another, ultimately.  The truth, will be revealed!
 
And, speaking of that!  The secret, Senate health care plan was finally released this week, and details are steadily and appallingly coming to light.  It was so secret, apparently, that not even all the secret committee members working on it, knew everything in it, since much was given to Senator Mitch McConnell’s aides to write!  And, what is revealed, bottom-line, is that it reduces the amount of healthcare delivered to Americans, at a higher cost, while enriching the pocketbooks of the most-well-off Americans, through huge tax cuts. 
 
I can’t find the words to express my dismay and anger at this bill – and my fear, if it passes, for the millions of people who will lose their coverage, and for the safety net, that supports our seniors, the disabled, and those living with mental illness, which is effectively ended.  There is no care for the sparrow, here, instead ‘the least of these’ are targeted as the problem, and considered expendable, in this dystopian, so-called, healthcare plan.  It’s simply a moral outrage! 
 
It’s hard not to be afraid, sometimes.  But Jesus surprises us in this Reading – before we’re even halfway through this gospel story – with the announcement, that, we will find our worth in “taking up our cross and following him.”  We haven’t even gotten to the crucifixion yet, and Jesus feels the need to explain the cross and its place in our lives. 
 
In other words, due to all this revealing – secrets uncovered and brought into the light; the truth coming out – there may be suffering and sacrifice involved, there may be divisions, even families may no longer find unity, much less our elected leaders. 
 
“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”  Jesus said that too!  We fear and respect God alone, the One who has awesomely created us.  And we give our lives to follow Jesus, as together we bear one another’s burdens and crosses.  And we shout out the truth from the housetops, we tell it in the light.  Because then, not only do we have a clear conscience, but we rejoice that we will live, in the light of Christ, starting now, and forever – redeemed by the Lamb of God, whose eye is on the sparrow. 
 
And so, we are not afraid of a healthcare bill, even though lives are threatened.  We cannot, and will not, lose our souls, and give-in, to what is opposed to Christ.  Because, what is whispered in secret, will be proclaimed from the housetops. 
 
So, it’s interesting – you might remember this – that the next time Kenneth Feinberg got a phone call for his services was in 2007, from the President of Virginia Tech, after the mass shooting, there.  And this time he knew he wanted to take a different approach.  One based on the fundamental equality-of-life – that all lives are equal and valued by God.  And this time, all the surviving families, whether students or faculty, rich or poor, received the same equal compensation, from the fund he managed. 
 
Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  But take up your cross and follow the crucified One, the giver-of-life, the one who values each of us for who we are.  For God’s eye is on the sparrow; and I know God watches us all.