May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my soul find favor in your sight, my God.
There is no question that I love reading the Gospels; they never get old, each time I hear, see, or experience in New and Different. Some make me cry as I become so lost in the Love of Jesus. Others make me want to shout a few Baptist AMENS among all these Episcopalians. And Today, one of these Gospels that has Jesus in a “Don’t Make Me Lose My Religion Up In Here!” resulted in Jesus needing to show some “Tough Love,” You Know, When People Say or Do Things that make you wonder… How they Totally Missed all about Jesus and the Love of God…In today’s Gospel according to Luke, as the day drew near to be taken up, Jesus’s face was towards Jerusalem…to Jerusalem. Where he would be taken up above his trials, above the Crucifixion, to Be Taken Up to His Resurrection and Ascension
With all that was going on around The Son of Man… in these most troubled times He was not distracted, confused or weary Jesus was ready to take care of business, God’s Business to Do the Unthinkable, to Offer His Life to a Fragile World…to the Glory of what it means to be a child of loving God…so much more than they cannot even comprehend truly above what they can ever prayed, asked or imagine especially, especially with all the Distractions that Surround them…their Beloved Teacher and Rabbi shows them to keep their face to Jerusalem…
Here once again, as time and time again Jesus gives examples and speaks the Living Word to the Gathered, to His Disciples then and now, from generation to generation, to walk along with him on this journey to spread the word and serve as a Witness…overcoming Death on the Cross to Spread the Living Gospel as we are called to do, as we were created by God to do.
We all have to at one time have to make the decision to either Walk the Walk as God’s Chosen…to follow Jesus on this is the Path, calling All Believers to step up, face Jerusalem embracing that it will be the hardest thing you ever do…following Jesus to the Cross, trusting and Loving God, as Jesus so trusted and loved God. It is love, trust, and bravery that pass all understanding, the exact action we need to fix this brokenness.
And as this day grew near, Jesus invited all then and now to do the same without exception. All are welcome, all are called to speak the word and act on the word of God. It is that Love, the Power of that Love Jesus showed time and time again to all those whom he gathered at the Mount…Calling Disciples…Believers. There were those who held on to every word and those who walked away. Some Distracted, others holding on to old beliefs and comforts, while others connected with Jesus where they were and who they were to Follow and Love One Another…keeping our faces to Jerusalem.
And Then All Stuff Happens…
I love the Disciples. They remind us of our Humanness. Many have been with Jesus from the day at The Mount when they first heard this Rebel Speak words of a Revolutionary, speaking against the Power to lift up those discarded and despised. They were with Jesus when he Fed The Hungry, healed the Sick, and showed Love for Our Neighbors, with no exceptions. And yet, when Jesus is rebuked by the Samaritans, two of His Disciples, James and John, ask Him… “Do you want us on your behalf to bring fire down from Heaven to Consume them?” Jesus, must have thought, even for a moment, “What in are you talking about?”, “Where did you ever hear me say to destroy those who don’t accept me or don’t agree with me?” You see, this is a classic Make Me try to lose My Religion Moments, but Jesus keeps his face up to Jerusalem…for their sake. He didn’t lose his focus; instead, Jesus “Redirects His Beloved”. You see, because Jesus wants us to be with him because he knows that whatever happens, whatever hardship. The Resurrection Coming. And we need to be witnesses, for we are the ones who are called to proclaim the Kingdom of God here to heal this Broken World.
I don’t fault the Disciples for somehow missing is selective hearing…or is what they were hearing. What we hear every Sunday to follow Jesus is, it honestly, just so much to grasp and not get distracted by the relentless ignorance, stupidity rooted in pure, inexcusable hate. We are living in a time where we have to remind ourselves that we all have the right to exist. To hold and to have unamiable rights of equality. To live the life God made and breathed the Holy Spirit into us to be. And in these dangerous times that we are living, where the Indigenous Peoples and The Enslaved to Free are being erased, where women are once again losing their rights, life-saving vaccines are expiring, and food is rotting and children are dying.
We all need to intentionally keep our focus on what God is calling us all to do a this particular time. So let them strip Harvey Milk’s name from a Battleship, for it does not stop God’s Children from Standing Up, Speaking Up for the Right of Every Human Being to Live, Exist, and Love as Jesus commanded us to do.
These are the Times we are living in; these are the days we need to draw nearer to Jesus. We need to let go of all distractions, move beyond our Comforts, letting go of anything that is not God. Keeping our face to Jerusalem. We are beyond thinking “This is Just About Me”
It is about all of us…They are coming for all of Us.
Children of Loving God that Sees us all and welcomes us all, as who I believe created us all in His Image, there is No Exception. And like Jesus, we will be taken up to Jerusalem. Yes, today is A Day to Celebrate Our fearless, Resilient, Glorious Community, In Parades, Dance, Music, and Just Plain Fun. And Tomorrow, we March for Justice, we Speak Up and Out Against, we come together as a community. We Support and Welcome One another…coming together on the Road to Jerusalem.
And we as Disciples…do not get distracted by any form of hate, racism, ignorance, and stupidity, especially using the Bible, Jesus’s teachings to justify and promote hate to push their White Christian Nationalist Agenda to divide, discriminate, and destroy God’s Kingdom here on Earth. With all they misquote and speak to justify their actions, I have never heard them quote Jesus…Love Your Neighbor as you love yourself, and the last command, “Love One Another.”
No exceptions. One cannot love your neighbor while resenting the love they have for themselves and who they love. So let’s all come together this day of celebration around the Table God has set for us, where all are welcomed, to be filled by the Sacraments, the Spirt of our Lord and Savoir and to leave to go out a celebrate the freedoms we all hold self-evident that will not be lost, but Glorified in how we join together, as we love ourselves and one another.
AMEN
