Labels & Boxes - Redeemer Episcopal Church

Matthew 11:16-30 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

16 “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

17 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
    we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

25 At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

________

I preached this sermon for our pre-recorded Morning Prayer for July 5, 2020 at Redeemer Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, Florida. It is preached to a specific people in a specific time and place, but I believe that God can transcend that and I hope it might also speak to you. You can listen to the raw recording of the sermon here.

If you are one of my friends who forced me to go to Chick-fil-A that day in seminary, then I'm still kind of mad at you because Chick-fil-A has trash politics. And also lol, I was so pretentious back then (still am). 

One of my favorite stories from seminary was one of the first times my husband and I spent time off campus. We went to a fast food restaurant with a few other people we barely knew, and started chatting like new friends do. Everyone was asking different questions rapid fire about each other’s lives: are you a liberal or conservative, where are you from, what denomination are you, were you a camp counselor, did you attend campus ministry? 

These were all questions that were seemingly innocuous, but had a very specific purpose. They would put each of us in a certain “box.” Each question said enough about the one answering to allow everyone else to make broad assumptions about them. I got quiet during parts of the conversation and Daniel asked why. “I don’t like labels,” I said, “I’d rather people just get to know me instead of putting me in some kind of box.” 

It has been seven or so years since that conversation, but Daniel, my husband, brings it up every so often when I label myself in some way. “I thought you hated labels” he’ll say. “No,” I reply, “I hate the box.” 

Right before the gospel text we hear this morning, Jesus has instructed his twelve disciples and sent them on their way. Then John the Baptizer, who is in jail, sends word that Jesus is out preaching and sends all of his followers to go listen to him. John’s disciples question Jesus and Jesus sends them back to John, telling them to tell John everything they’d heard and seen: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.

Then Jesus begins speaking to the crowds that had gathered around him. This is where our reading for this morning picks up: right in the middle of Jesus’ teaching. He seems annoyed that people continue to question him and John the Baptizer, even though the people had seen great signs being performed by these men. Still they doubted. But why? 

It’s easy for us to see, 2000 years removed, that Jesus was fulfilling all sorts of prophecies, so it’s unfathomable that the people wouldn’t believe that he was the Son of God. But people had… expectations of the messiah. When someone came with the label “messiah,” there was a box that people put him in. 

“What is the messiah supposed to look like?” Jesus asks. John came and lives an austere lifestyle: he didn’t eat or drink like an old-school prophet and people doubted him— more than that, they said he had a demon!

Then on the other hand, Jesus came and ate and drank and gathered with sinners and people called him a glutton and a drunkard. 

What then, was the messiah supposed to look like? Jesus asks. 

Jesus seems a bit frustrated by being forced into box because of who he associates with and people’s pre-judgements about who the messiah is. He calls the crowd foolish children playing in the market. 

They cannot see the truth that is right in front of them. The truth of Jesus’ true identity. 

I think about all of the ways people are misunderstood today due to stereotypes. We assume we know something based on a tiny detail, like where she grew up or where they went to school, or their gender or his age or the color of his skin— any number of things that do not capture the complexity of how we are as individuals. And these stereotypes that we assign to people, these boxes that we put them into based on these small aspects of their lives, can be dangerous. At the very least, it takes away from the unique child that God knit as an individual. And in some cases it leads to discrimination and violence, it has even led to the genocide of entire peoples. 

In Jesus’ case, the assumptions that his community and the religious authorities made about him led to his arrest and death. Because they didn’t recognize Jesus for who he really was— a child of God, THE child of God, the messiah.

How often do we do this? Pre-judging people for the company that they keep, the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, or where they are from. How often has it lead to deep and abiding pain in our community, our country, and our world? 

Yet Jesus says that wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. 

And we worship a God who DID something. We worship a God who broke all of the preconceived notions of a deity and become flesh in the form of a tiny baby to a poor unknown family. We worship a God who threw off the labels of the world and gave sight to the blind, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, raised the dead, and brought good news to the poor. We worship a God who takes the stereotypical and prejudiced boxes of this world, turns them upside down, and smashes them to bits. 

We worship a God who peels away the labels of our lives, peels away the labels that we have given ourselves and the ones that have been forced upon us. And declares that the labels of this world are nothing. And we worship the God who took nothing… and made everything. 

God, who created the entire expanse of the universe washes us so completely the waters of baptism and then declares, “You are my beloved. You are my child. Look at what I have done for you.”

And then God invites us into the story. To look beyond the boxes of sin, death, and the devil and begin to imagine and understand the world that God has promised to us and has begun in us through Christ Jesus. A world without labels or boxes, except the only true one identity that matters: you are a child a God. Amen. 

What we do matters - Redeemer Episcopal Church

Matthew 5:13-20 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Salt and Light

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

The Law and the Prophets

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

________________________

The following is the sermon originally preached by me, Rev. Sarah Locke, at Redeemer Episcopal Church for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany on February 9, 2020. You can read the manuscript below, or listen to the sermon (with infusions from the Spirit) at this link. You should definitely listen to the sermon, though, because it's way better than this manuscript. 

God of everlasting light, encourage us to reveal your love and Christ’s holiness to the entire world through our actions every day. Sustain us by your own grace and mercy. Amen. 

I think I have said it in every sermon during this season, but it worth repeating: the season of Epiphany is all about Jesus being revealed as the Son of God and the savior of the world. This season is about the proof that God came into this world to save this world through Christ Jesus. It is a joyous season, and one that is full of good imagery of light and revelation. 

But this gospel text doesn’t seem to have much of anything to do with Jesus. On the contrary, the text is part of the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus teaches his followers. It seems that this text is less about Jesus and a whole lot more about us. 

For a season that is supposed to focus on the spreading of the gospel to the whole world that Jesus Christ came into the world to save the whole world, this text doesn’t really seem like it fits. 

But when Christ comes into the world as a tiny baby on Christmas morning, it is not Christ himself who goes around telling people what has happened. It’s all of the faithful people witnessing the night— it’s the wise men and the shepherds, it’s the innkeeper. 

When Mary brings Jesus to the temple for presentation, it’s not Jesus himself proclaiming that God has done marvelous things, it’s those who have waited and watched for so long, Simeon and Anna. 

When Jesus begins his ministry near the Jordan, he is not the one pointing to himself and causing a raucous. It’s someone else, this voice in the wilderness called John the Baptizer. 

It seems, throughout history, there are countless voices calling out and proclaiming that Christ is the savior of the world, come to save the world. Even now, we hear people proclaiming this truth in every aspect of our lives. 

Our very own mission statement for Redeemer is “Love God and bring people to Christ.” We are called to proclaim this truth as well. But how to we do it? I think it’s one of those questions that might take the entire year to tackle, and I definitely know I’ll be talking about it again next week. How, exactly, do we bring people to Christ? 

During our first dinner on campus this semester, I bought tons of pizza and drinks for the students and we had a party. It was wonderful. People had caught wind of the pizza party— or they could smell it from down the hallway— and we had over twenty students at our very first dinner. It was wonderful. As we were eating and catching up, another student walked in and asked if he could grab some pizza. “Of course!” We exclaimed! “Come join us!” He grabbed four pieces of pizza, a cup of soda, and promptly left. 

My students were furious. But not for the reason you might think. You see, they wanted desperately to share their fellowship with him. They wanted him to join because they love the community they’ve created there.

The students wanted to tell this student about their love and their community, but instead they had to simply demonstrate it by allowing someone to come into their community and be welcomed, regardless of his response. All they could do was let their light, the light of Christ, shine through their radical hospitality for this student. About twenty minutes later, in the middle of our conversation about this radial hospitality we are called to share with all people we encounter, the student came back— with his girlfriend— and grabbed two more slices of pizza. But instead of being angry, or perhaps in spite of being angry, our students smiled and greeted them, inviting them to take a cookie or two as well. 

There’s no telling whether or not that student and his girlfriend will come back to any of our gatherings or if they could name their experience as a proclamation of the fellowship of Christ Jesus, but that is what our group students demonstrated that evening. Instead of simply saying we are a welcoming community, they demonstrated it. They put their light on a lamp stand for the whole household to see and let their light shine before others, so that they may see their good works. Good works that reflect the love that Christ has for the entire world.

It does, of course, matter what we say and what we believe. This is of utmost importance. It is why we spend so much time learning about Jesus on Sunday mornings, in our small groups, and in catechism class. But what the world sees are the things that we do. 

What Jesus describes in his sermon on the mount is not about the proper way to talk about the coming of the kingdom of God. He doesn’t give us an outlines of how to construct a good sermon or the points we need to make to convince someone of the gospel truth. Perhaps it would be easier for us to talk about our faith if he had. “Top seven things to say to convince someone to become a Christian!” 

No, what Jesus teaches in the sermon on the mount is not about words. It’s about action. There’s a reason the bishop’s Way of Love consists of seven VERBS. Revealing God’s love in Christ Jesus to the entire world has very little to do with our words, and almost everything to do with our actions. 

I’ve been here at Redeemer for almost a year, and I am so encouraged by how we share God’s love with the world through action. The light of Christ shines so brightly through ministries like the food pantry and the support you give to the campus ministry. You can taste the good wonderful saltiness of this congregation in the HOPE outreach ministries the partnerships nurtured there. It would be easy to hide our light under a bushel basket or keep it to ourselves, but instead we have Ladies Night and Grill and Chill that invites people in from the community. We have a youth ministry that so faithfully shares the love of God with young people. 

And in our individual lives, I have heard beautiful stories of God’s light shining through you. And what I think he truly beautiful about this community is that we do it because we want to share the love of Christ with people. We are truly devoted to the mission of the church in loving God and bringing people to Christ. 

Let us continue to go forth into the world, revealing to the world God’s incredible light, the son God gave to us and to the whole world for the salvation of all people. Amen.