Domes - Our Monthly Newsletter
Dunbar UCC
January 28, 2007
Luke 4:21-30
The Revolting Truth
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Have you ever thought about why someone would stand up here and preach? Growing up, it wasn’t something I wanted to do. When I majored in religion in college, and then went to seminary, it was only because Jesus and the Bible were so interesting to me. But I never wanted to do this. And yet, here I am. How did I get here?
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In our first reading. Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
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In a way, we have nothing to do with our calling, whatever it is. Before we’re born, God has a plan for each of us, and we can’t change that. Jeremiah had to be a prophet -- that’s what God made him even before his parents knew each other. That’s why I’m here: God made me a preacher. I know it now, though I fought my calling. I didn’t want to do this. Because I never liked conflict. I don’t like upsetting you by the things I feel I have to say. Remember a number of years ago, right after we started this terrible mistake of a war with Iraq, a US flag was put on the door of our Parish House. And I said, at our Council meeting, “I think that flag has to be removed. It doesn’t belong on a church building. God is not American. Our religion isn’t American. We must take that flag down.” I didn’t want to say that. I was shaking. But I had to. Why? How can I explain it. It’s like God was shaking me -- shaking me -- and saying, “Tell them to take that flag off my building!” So, with my heart pounding, and my whole body sweating, I said, “That flag needs to come down. This is God’s church -- no country can put their image on this building.” And people got real upset with me. And you took a vote -- you said, “No -- we’re keeping that flag up.”
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You don’t have to listen to what I say. But I have to say it. Even if you hate me for saying it. Sometimes I embarrass my family because of what I write or say. Once from this pulpit, I called our president George Bush stupid. The fallout from that comment went all the way to the pastoral relations committee. “How could you dare, from the pulpit, say that of our chief executive?” people said. From here, I’ve said that our country does terrible, evil things in the world -- violent, destructive, cruel things. Some members stopped giving their pledges from those comments. From here, I’ve said that we need to become an open and affirming church, we need to explicitly welcome and affirm the goodness of all people, including homosexuals and lesbians. Families left the church because I said that. From here, I’ve said, we must love our enemies. We must love the people who flew the airplanes into the World Trade towers. We must love the Taliban and al Qaeda. More pledges stopped, and more people left the church. Some of MY FAMILY MEMBERS stopped talking to me.
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The prophet Jeremiah told God that preaching this kind of stuff was wearing him out and he wanted to quit -- just stop this line of work and do something else. So, in anger, he said to God, “O Lord, you seduced me, you overpowered me, you raped me. Your word has brought me insult and humiliation. But if I say, ‘I will not preach any more,’ your word becomes like a fire in my heart, and I grow weary of holding it in -- and I can’t.”
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I can’t stop saying what I’m saying either. This is my reason for living -- I can’t not do it. If I stop speaking what I discern to be the truth because you’ll feel better -- we both lose.
Eventually, the people took Jeremiah and threw him in a deep hole.
The prophet Amos was kicked out of Israel.
Most of the disciples were killed.
Paul and Peter were executed.
But Jesus got away on that day he first preached.
They finally got him too.
Now he speaks everywhere, through people like you and me. Jesus said, “Do you think that you can silence God? You can’t -- if you kill me, even these stones will cry out.”
I guess that’s a good thing, huh?