Sermon by Randall T. Clayton, Brown Memorial Woodbrook Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD.  February 26, 2017.

Text:  Luke 9:28-45

Decades ago there was a situation comedy called “The Jefferson’s.” The central characters, George and Louise Jefferson, owned a dry cleaning business that had become quite successful.  Their success enabled them to move out of their working class neighborhood in Queens (just down the street from Archie and Edith Bunker, by the way) and into the exclusive confines of the upper east side of Manhattan.  “Moving on up to the east side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky, we finally got a piece of the pie,” their theme song said. “Fish don’t fry in the kitchen; beans don’t burn on the grill. Took a whole lotta tryin’ just to get up that hill. Now we’re up in the big leagues, Gettin’ our turn at bat. As long as we live, it’s you and me baby, there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that. Well we’re movin’ on up, to the East Side. To a deluxe apartment in the sky. Movin’ on up to the east side. We finally got a piece of the pie.   [“Movin’ On Up”, Ja’net Dubois & Jeff Barry] George was proud of his success, his piece of the pie. His deluxe apartment in the sky certainly underscored his sense that he had finally made it to Gloryland.

I suppose anyone who could own and live in what has been billed as the most expensive house in the United States might also think they were living in Gloryland.   According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times,      [“250 Mission Dollar Property,” Los Angeles Times,  January 18, 2017, business section] the 38,000 square foot home is listed for sale at a quarter of a billion dollars.  The owner of this house will get a fully stocked wine cellar with over 2500 bottles of wine, a 30 car garage filled with expensive automobiles, and be able to enjoy 12 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms, 3 kitchens, a 40 seat movie theater, an infinity pool with a swim up bar and 270 degree hilltop views from downtown Los Angeles to the ocean.  The house even comes with a staff of 7 employees to meet the needs and whims of its owners. Surely if you lived there, you might think you were in Gloryland, at least until the electric bill arrived, or you started waking up with arthritis so bad that every movement was painful, or until you looked down the street or deep into your heart and realized the extent of the world’s need.

On this Transfiguration Sunday, we remember a day when some of Jesus’ disciples must have felt that they had arrived in Gloryland as they witnessed some events on a mountain top that were nothing short of glorious.  Their impulse at that moment was to build some houses for those present on the mountain, perhaps deluxe houses at that; but that moment on the mountain top slipped away quickly, and soon they found themselves following Jesus on a journey that would lead to rejection and betrayal, death and finally a glorious resurrection.

Jesus invited his inner circle of disciples — Peter, James and John — to spend some time in prayer with him.  And as was his habit sometimes, Jesus chose to get away from the crowds for prayer time, and so he led these three disciples up a high mountain for their talk with God.   By the time that the disciples got to that mountain top they were tired and sleepy struggling to stay awake, but thankfully for them and for us, they were able to fight the drowsiness and keep their eyes open and see the glories God had in store for them.

Struggling to stay awake, they suddenly saw that Jesus’ appearance had changed, and it did so without the aid of a barber, plastic surgeon, and personal fitness trainer.  His face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. And while that was glorious enough, standing beside this glowing Jesus were two of the greatest people in their history, both of whom had been dead for generations:  Moses and Elijah. Now truth-to-tell, both of their deaths had been somewhat mysterious.  Scripture indicates God had buried Moses when he died but the location of his grave was never disclosed.  And Elijah had been “taken up” into heaven. Given the nature of their deaths, and the way God had used them in the past, it was believed that both men would return to earth at the time that God was ready to send the Messiah to announce the Messiah’s coming.  So that day on the mountaintop with Moses and Elijah talking to a transfigured Jesus the disciples must have felt as if they had finally made it to Gloryland.

Peter’s impetuous response was to offer to build some houses. One for each of them in fact.  Perhaps he wanted all of them to be comfortable; perhaps he wanted to enshrine that moment and hold onto it forever; or perhaps he just said the first thing that came out of his mouth.  We really don’t know his motivation, but whatever the reason for his desire to build some nice homes for all three, while he was speaking a cloud enveloped them all.  And as God had done in times past, God spoke in the midst of that cloud.  In a voice that was unmistakably God’s, the disciples heard God say:   This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him.” And then (snap fingers), it was over.  The cloud disbursed. Moses was gone. Elijah disappeared.  And once again Jesus looked just like the man whom they had followed up the mountain and into Gloryland that day.

Having experienced Gloryland, and with a new assurance that Jesus was the Messiah, as they journeyed down the mountain perhaps they began to wonder if they had misunderstood what Jesus had said just a few days prior about the Son of Man undergoing suffering, and about his rejection and death.  With memories of that Gloryland experience fresh in their minds, perhaps they figured that Jesus had either misspoken about what was to come, or they had misunderstood Jesus’ comments about followers denying themselves about followers taking up crosses daily; and perhaps they expected when the next day dawned that their lives would suddenly be easy, that their cupboards would fully stocked, and their enemies would be subdued, and they too would acquire a deluxe apartment in the sky or a home with 270 degree views of city and sea.

But at the foot of the mountain they met a man whose only son was very, very sick. The man begged Jesus to look at the child who was convulsing, foaming at the mouth, shrieking. Apparently the disciples had been unable to heal the man’s son, but he said he was hoping Jesus could. And Jesus did.

Witnessing God’s love, power, and might in that healing, the disciples must have felt at that moment like they were in Gloryland again.  Indeed, seeing the father’s face and the son’s peaceful body must have been a glorious moment and given them the assurance that all would really be right with the world and that the Messiah was truly present. But then, that glorious experience ended abruptly when Jesus said, “Let these words sink into your ears:  The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.” And soon thereafter, Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem where he would encounter the worst the world could throw at anyone.

Jesus left the mountain where he had conversed with Moses and Elijah and he sloughed through a world that turned its back on the poor, and he offered hope and called his followers to show mercy and kindness. Jesus  came  down the mountain and into a world that  crushed the spirits of those without voice, and those without standing, and he welcomed all of those, embracing them, standing up for them, inviting those of us who follow him to do the same.

Jesus didn’t ensconce himself in a house that spoke of power and success and he didn’t leave his disciples there either. But rather Jesus took up the cause of those who were oppressed, offering wholeness, peace and dignity to those his culture did not and he says to us, do likewise.

And it may be that as we do likewise we will begin to see at least some hints of Gloryland along the way. You see, I think it’s possible that as we protest actions and policies the hurt the vulnerable we just might get a glimpse of Gloryland in seeing prospects begin to emerge for a world that values all people and insures that all have enough. It’s possible that as we undertake concrete actions to protect God’s creation from the ravages of industry and careless neglect we will see some hints of hope in the actions of others who are joining us in this world. I think if we look, it’s possible to find hints of the joy and peace and wholeness that God has promised even in our daily lives…Perhaps we experience such a moment as we pass the peace with someone worshipping here; or perhaps we experience it as we take food or flowers to one who is mourning, as we hold the hand of one who is dying, or in the countenance of a transgender high schooler who discovers we accept them and will stand up for them against all who would bully or demean them.

Instead of staying up on a high mountain removed from the world’s need, or ensconced in a place that seems safe and secure and allows us to ignore the world’s need, Jesus calls his disciples off the mountain top and into the world, where we can meet the Jesus who journeys with us, and who has broken the power of death, destroyed the power of evil, and who invites us to lift up a cross, and carry it for the sake of those in need in our world.

Yes, in this world at the base on the mountain we will encounter pain and struggle, and no, we may not end up feeling like we have our piece of the pie. Yes, we will see sickness and hunger and violence and division. Yes, we will even need to endure change that is not always wanted and leaves us feeling uprooted; and no, as followers of Christ, we will not be walled away from the world. But if we keep our eyes open, our hearts receptive, and our hands engaged in Christ’s service, I suspect we will also encounter a little bit of Gloryland along the way, at least enough to get us through.  Amen.

 

Sermon by Randall T. Clayton, Brown Memorial Woodbrook Presby. Church, Baltimore MD. February 5, 2017.

Text:  Luke 7:1-17

This is one of those days when I wish we had a screen and a way to project onto it here in the sanctuary, because if we did I’d show you a video produced in Denmark that’s been making it’s way around social media that begins with the camera panning around a big room which has big white squares, boxes, painted on the floor (“What Happens When You Stop Putting People in Boxes”, created by TV2 Denmark).

An unseen voice says, “It’s easy to put people in boxes, there’s us and there’s them. The high earners and those just getting by”.  As the announcer says these words a group of people dressed in business attire walks into the room and they all go and stand inside one of those white boxes outlined on the floor. They are then followed by another group of people wearing jeans, tee shirts, and the uniforms of fast food workers who all go and stand in another one of the white squares.

The announcer continues: It’s easy to put people in boxes…“Those we trust and those we try to avoid. There’s the new days and those who’ve always been here.” As the announcer says each of these phrases, a group of similarly dressed and similar looking people enter and go to stand in their respective white boxes on the floor.

“It’s easy to put people in boxes,” the announcer said. “The people from the countryside and those who’ve never seen a cow. “The religious and the self-confident. There are those we share something with and those we don’t share anything with.” One after another all of the white boxes on the floor are filled, with the people in each box resembling somehow the others in that particular box.

The camera then points toward a single character, a person who appears to be a leader, who says to the group of people all standing in their boxes, “Welcome, I am going to ask you some questions today, some of them might be a bit personal but I hope you will answer honestly. Who in this room was the class clown?”

Smiles form on people’s faces and slowly some of the people from the “never seen a cow” box move to the center of the room, along with a couple from the “from the countryside box.”  Then a person or two from the “just getting by box’ step toward the center of the room and we see people from virtually all of the boxes meet those in the middle of the room too…all of them, class clowns,

“Who are stepparents?” the leader asks. Once again, people step out of the various boxes they had been standing in, and meet in the middle of the room.  And they begin to hug each other and shake hands and talk together.

At this point in the video, the original unseen announcer’s voice returns saying, “And then suddenly there’s us. We who believe in life after death; we who’ve seen UFOs; and all of us who love to dance. We who’ve been bullied and we who’ve bullied others. And then there’s us…we who are brokenhearted; we who are madly in love; we who feel lonely.”

As he says each of these phrases individuals move out of their original boxes and meet-up in the middle of the room acknowledging a commonality that had been obscured by the box they were in originally.

The announcer says, “And then there’s us…we who are broken-hearted; we who are madly in love; we who feel lonely; we who are bisexual…” At this point a single man steps out of his box. He just stands in the middle, all by himself. No one else leaves a box. But in just a second as he stands there looking a little uncomfortable, all alone, the room erupts in applause.  And he smiles as the announcer says, “We who are bisexual and we who acknowledge the courage of others; we who have found the meaning of life and we who have saved lives.  And then there’s all of us who just love Denmark. So maybe there’s more that brings us together than we think

And as I think about Jesus’ life, and in particular the two stories that we read a moment ago from Luke’s Gospel, it seems to me that Jesus would have liked that video and it’s message about boxes.

In Jesus’ day Jesus’ community put the Romans in a box labeled “bad guys”.  They were the oppressors, who ruled with a terrible and brutal force.  And so, when a Centurion, the commander of a force of 100 Roman soldiers sends people to Jesus asking for Jesus to heal his slave,  it would have been shocking to many in Jesus’ community that Jesus would deign to respond to him because clearly he must be a “bad guy” since he was a Roman centurion. And that Jesus’ response included a trip toward the Centurion’s home was more shocking still because that would have caused Jesus to end up in the “unclean” box.

Now it is surely true that many of those who served Rome’s interests were probably brutal and wielded a savage sword, it would appear that this Centurion wasn’t among those.  Even though many in Jesus’ community probably put him in the “bad guy” box with the rest of the Romans, this individual doesn’t seem to have been a bad guy. In fact, he had curried friendships among some of the Jews in his town, even going so far as to fund a synagogue for them.   And so, when there was a need in his household, some of the Jewish elders came to Jesus for Jesus’ help.  As Jesus was on the way to the Centurion’s home, Jesus was met by some of the Centurion’s friends bringing a message from the Centurion that Jesus need not come to his house,  that all Jesus needed to do was say the word and the slave would be healed.  And as it turned out, Jesus said a word, and the slave was healed, and then Jesus praised the faith of this man many relegated to the “bad guy” box because of his job and his religion.  Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.  Maybe even those we relegate to the “bad guy” boxes aren’t so bad either.

Soon after that Jesus was in a town called Nain, about 25 miles or so from Capernaum where he had healed the Centurion’s slave.  As he was entering the town he happened upon a funeral procession.  On the bier being carried to a burial place outside the town was the corpse of a man who was probably between 20 and 40 years of age.  And in the procession was the dead man’s mother who happened to be a widow who also had no other living sons.  As a widow, any wealth that she and her husband had amassed would have gone to her only son when her husband had died.  Now that her son was dead, whatever resources he had at his death, would not have flowed back to his mother since women didn’t inherit.  So his death did not just plunge her into grief, but into abject poverty as well.

It was a cruel system, that somehow reinforced the culture’s assumptions that women were not of value, and allowed the world to ignore the plight of widows, putting them all into a box with a big label on the outside that said, “Not Worth Much.”

But Jesus looked beyond the labels on the box, and into the box itself.  And when he did, he truly saw this widow as a person, a person of value.  And when he saw her, he cared about her vulnerability and in his compassion he reached out to her without her even asking him to do anything, inviting her to stop weeping as he said to the dead son, “Arise.” And with that command not only was the son resuscitated but her needs were met as well.  With her son alive again she had a means of support…food, housing, clothing were all possible once again. Not worth much?  Not in Jesus’ eyes.

The world lumped widows all together, in a box labeled “not worth much“, but Jesus didn’t. Jesus’ own community lumped all the keepers of the Roman law together in a box called “bad guys”,   but Jesus didn’t. Jesus own community separated themselves from those who believed differently then they, putting the gentiles into a box with a label that said “Unclean,” but his actions demonstrated that  Jesus didn’t. Over and over in Jesus’ life and ministry he tore the labels off the boxes we create, and in fact, invited people out of the boxes we put them in.

I think that we put people into boxes…Christians in one box, Jews in another; Palestinians in one box here , and Israeli’s in a box over there; Republicans and Democrats; Christians and Muslims; Americans and the rest of the world; black and white; gay and straight; the good and the bad.  And more than likely all of the people in the “good guy” box look suspiciously like us.

We put people into boxes I think because we think it makes us feel safe to know where everyone is and where they seem to belong.  But when it’s all said-and-done, it’s probably only an illusion of security rather than real safety. And perhaps we put people into boxes because it’s just more comfortable when we know where everyone’s place is.  With everyone in a box, we are enabled to stroll along a path that doesn’t feel threatening and which doesn’t demand too much of us.  Take people out of the boxes, and there’s a possibility that we might find ourselves embarking on a new journey along a different path, which might lead to a new and different future. But the thing of it is, along that new journey there is surely God’s work to do, Christ’s love to share, and where we might have the privilege of compassionately meeting the world’s need in God’s name.

Jesus didn’t put people into boxes; in fact, he tore the labels off of them, and invited people out of them, and he calls us to do the same. After all, there is more that binds us together than separates us in God’s kingdom; and surely there is more that could bring us together than we might think. [walk to display of cardboard boxes in front of communion table] And besides, aren’t these boxes kind of ugly?