Sermon for January 17, 2021 - The Second Sunday after the Epiphany - Year B - The Rev. Jeffrey W. Mello
Epiphany 2 – Year B
Preached on January 17, 2021
At St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brookline
The Reverend Jeffrey W. Mello
1 Samuel 3:1-10; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51
In his Open Letter from Birmingham City Jail in 1963 the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “The contemporary church is often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.”
I begin with these words from Dr. King not just because we celebrate his life and ministry this weekend, but because they are a voice from the wilderness crying out to the church in 2021 to repent and prepare the Way of God.
Even as I prepared this sermon, these words wanted to stay stuck in my throat, for fear. Fear how they condemn the Church, and this church, this community I love, fear that they condemn me, a leader in this church, and fear that you all, who are already wearied by the health and political crisis of our day might be desperate for words of comfort this morning, not words of disruption and accountability.
The church is called to comfort the afflicted, and to afflict the comfortable, and usually, we’re pretty good at that.
It is easier in some places than others, but when people are feeling generally comfortable, it is a good time to call them to act on behalf of those who are oppressed and struggling to survive.
And when the community is afflicted, as in the days after a crisis like 9/11, or the Boston Marathon bombing, the church is quick to switch gears to provide spiritual and even physical comfort to the afflicted, the scared, and the grieving.
But how does the church live into its call to follow Jesus and live into its Baptismal promise to renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God, how do we do that when those listening are not comfortable, but stretched by the chaos and uncertainty of the world around them, as you may be?
I’m not sure I have an answer, except to say that we do not have a choice if we wish to call ourselves Christians, those who follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We cannot wait until “things get better for us” before joining the work to make things better for all.
Every time there has been a moment in history that called for people to come together to protect those who have been oppressed and those who have been marginalized, the church has had a decision to make. And, my friends, the church has not always been on the right side of those decisions.
And the church we love today, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brookline Massachusetts, is a descendant of a church built on a legacy of being slow to renouce the sins of slavery, misogyny, and oppression of the the GLBTQ+ community.
There is a lot of conversation among white people, whether or not we bear any responsibility for our history. I believe the answer to that question is yes, we do. And there is lots of good work being done across the church on that very topic, work we have begun at St. Paul’s and work I pray we will embrace here, on the corner of Aspinwall Ave. and St. Paul’s street.
But the moment is now, for those of us who identify as white, to accept the responsibility we have for our present.
The time is long past due for us, as the church, to put our desire to be true to our calling as followers of Christ first above all else, even if it makes us uncomfortable. Even if we’re not sure the church’s role. Even if you think this sermon is meant for someone else, meant for someone somewhere else who believes things you don’t believe or acts in ways you could never imagine acting.
You do not need to embrace White Privilege to benefit from it yourself. You do not need to watch a news outlet you think is dangerous to hold views that remain unchallenged and unhelpful to disrupting the systemic illness with which the sin of racism infects our hearts. You do not have to have stormed the US Capital to participate in the White Supremacist ideals that made the storming of the Capital possible.
Make no mistake, the violent storming of the Capital was not an exercise of free speech. It was meant to disenfranchise and subvert the votes of black and brown people and to send a message of fear to anyone who would support the efforts of people of color to claim their rights as citizens of this country and as children of God.
This isn’t an issue somewhere else. This is here. This is us.
A man from Maine tried to burn a black church down in Springfield, MA once on December 13 and twice on December 15.
People of color are suffering and dying from the COVID-19 pandemic at a disproportionate rate right here in our backyard.
White supremacy is killing our siblings in Christ every day.
And we have a choice to make.
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
Scripture reminds us today that we do not choose the time or the place that God calls us into action. God calls us when God needs us. And God needs us now.
God calls Samuel, repeatedly. But Samuel convinces himself it cannot be God, but Eli, who is calling him.
How I know that feeling. “Please, God, do not ask this of me. Ask someone else. Let me pay attention to the voices I know who will not demand things of me I do not know how to do.”
Nathaniel was not looking for God. Nathanael was not even hoping God would find him. But God did. Jesus found Philip, Philip found Nathanael. And Nathanael didn’t even know he needed finding.
But God does not wait for Nathanael to be ready. God makes Nathanael ready because God needs Nathanael, whether he is ready or not.
Maybe you are like Samuel, hearing the voices to join God’s urgent work in the world, but hoping it is a voice that can be tamed, or managed.
Maybe you are like Nathanael, feeling just fine hiding under the fig tree, waiting for God to pass you by without seeing you.
I get it. And the occasional Samuel day or Nathanael moment is understandable and maybe even part of what God wants for you.
This moment we are in requires us to stand before God and say, Here I am, Lord. We can no longer ignore the voice of God that speaks to us from the mouths of those who bear the brunt of our ignorance. We can no longer hide under the shade of our fig-trees that bear the fruit of the status-quo.
But our siblings of color do not have the luxury of ignoring the life-giving call of God, or hiding under a fig tree in the same way that most of us gathered here do.
It is not time for the work to begin. The work has been going on for generations. It is time for those of us who have been able to ignore the call or hidden under the fig tree to come face to face with the God who beckons us and say, “Here I am. Speak for your servant is listening.”
It is time to go beyond vague placations or theological circular arguments that do not lead to concrete change.
We cannot fix it all with one action. What has us broken will take generations to heal. But we must do everything we can, whenever we can to join God in the justice-seeking work God calls us out from under our fig trees to do.
Today, we have a choice. What choice will we make? What will the community of St. Paul’s Brookline say about how their ancestors met this moment in history?
Do something today. Do one thing that confronts the force of the status quo. Ask a new question. Listen to a new voice. Repent, and return to the Lord.
Let us pray.
Gracious God, find us under the fig trees of fear, under the fig trees of uncertainty, under the fig trees of paralyzing feelings of confusion or not being up to the task . Call to us that we might allow ourselves to be found, that we might come face to face with you, and say, “Here I am.”
AMEN
1 While all direct and indirect quotes are always cited, there are sources I read regularly in preparation for sermon writing. Chances are thoughts have been spurred by these sources and so I list the usual suspects here: David Lose, In the Meantime, The New Interpreters Bible, Sacra Pagina
© 2021 The Reverend Jeffrey W. Mello