Third Sunday After Pentecost – Pastor Ellen Mills
I am offering you two ways to receive this. In print, you will need to read the scriptures for yourself, and then the prayer and reflection that follow in this post. If you click on the audio link below (below), you can hear all of it, including the scriptures
Third Sunday After Pentecost
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray,
Teach us good Lord God, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not count the cost, to fight and not heed the wounds, to toil and not seek for rest, to labor and not ask for reward, except that of knowing that we do your will, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Jeremiah 20:7-13
Psalm 69:7-18
Romans 6:1b-11
Matthew 10:24-39
This morning we have the sixth lament of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah has spoken words of God’s judgment to the priest, Pashhur, and it has not gone well. But when does it go well when we speak out against something that is not right? Jeremiah had prophesied that Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel that contained Jerusalem, would be taken into captivity by Babylon. And indeed it was. And Jeremiah is crying out to God about his persecution for saying these words, and how he experiences it as unfair. He spoke the words of God to God’s people, and this was what he got? Persecution was the experience of many prophets, and especially of Jeremiah. He was the one to speak out against what the leaders were doing, and say what the result would be, and for that he got persecuted. But in the form of lament, first Jeremiah fully expresses to God what he thinks of the situation. He speaks out about God’s past faithfulness, “O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind….” And then in the last verse, he offers thanks to God. Laments are a way of expressing the pain and grief of a situation, remembering the character of God, and trusting God for the future because of God’s past faithfulness.
Psalm 69 is also a lament. I will read the verses that come before our reading this morning. “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.” And the verses at the end of our reading show the turn from the hard reality of the situation to God’s faithfulness and love. “Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.”
I notice two things in these laments. I notice the depth and rawness of the pain that is expressed to God. Clearly Jeremiah and the psalmist felt free to express their feelings to God without fear of offending God. And then they had the relationship with God and the history of their people to help them draw on their past experiences of God to give them hope in an uncertain future. Nowhere does it say, “Rescue me God because I have done everything right and I deserve it.” The trust is not in their own faithfulness, but in the faithfulness and love of God. And laments also serve as a clear reminder that life does not always go smoothly for God’s people. Pain and suffering are part of life. And if we speak the truth to power, we may suffer.
And this, indeed, was the life of Jesus. We may focus on the beauty of the nativity, and the glory and light of Easter morning, but Jesus lived all of the time in between. He was rejected and put to death and his disciples would experience much of the same. Jesus says to them not to fear, but that does not mean that his followers will not suffer. He wants his disciples not to fear what is done to them physically because their relationship with God is safe. They are to put their trust and focus on God, not on anything less. And despite all appearances, they are precious to God, more precious even than several sparrows. I do wonder what people today make of that. As a lifelong birder, I know that birds are important. All of creation is important to God, and is part of an ecosystem that sustains us. And God knows every sparrow.
And despite the many times when Jesus offers the blessing of peace to his followers, in this passage, Jesus says he has come to bring a sword rather than peace. Huh? What is that about? I think that is about the reality of the choice that we must make and live out. We are called to put Jesus first, not Jesus in addition to the many other things in our lives. And it will have consequences for how we live in the world. Do we live for the sake of Jesus, or for our own sake? It is another way of saying that we cannot be true to ourselves as Christians and please others. If we are living deeply and honestly in Christ, it is likely that we will not please others, because that is not our focus.
Lament was part of the service I participated in this week to remember the nine black lives that were taken at Mother Emanuel by someone who seemed to come to the church to pray with them, but instead came to kill. Lament is part of our experience of Covid, as many lives are lost and others are changed forever. What deep waters are you in? What do you need to name and lament? Jesus is with us in lament, in his resurrected body that carried the wounds of crucifixion. Jesus asks us to enter into the rhythm of death and resurrection, trusting in the power of God to bring life and make things new. Lament can lead us to faithful action to change the conditions of injustice and hate that harm others. Lament reminds us of the faithfulness of God that endures. Because God is with us in all things. Amen.
Called into unity with one another and the whole creation, let us pray for our shared world.
Expansive God, you bring diverse voices together and unstop our ears to learn from one another, that differences might not overshadow our baptismal unity. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Loving God, you promise to be with all who are persecuted for your sake. Guide all who speak your word of justice and console any who are tormented or targeted for being who they are. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Compassionate God, you are with us, and we are never alone. Bless all fathers and father figures who strive to love and nurture as you do. Comfort all who long to be fathers and all for whom this day is difficult. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Reigning God, you bless us with guides and caretakers in the faith. As we give thanks for those who have died, increase our care for one another until we walk with them in newness of life. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Receive these prayers, O God, and those too deep for words; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord’s face shine upon you with grace and mercy.
The Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace.
Amen.