Living as though the Sun Will Rise Again

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
November 16, 2025
Proper 28, C
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Psalm 98
Luke 21:5-19

Do y’all remember when the world was going to end on New Year’s Day, 2000? Then again in 2012? There have been several comets that were supposed to bring about the end of the world. I remember two or three pastors with mathematical predictions that didn’t pan out. The Branch Davidians in Waco. There was the Left Behind fervor with the book series. That’s around nine or ten end of the world predictions, just in the last 30 years, just that I can remember.

All of them have been wrong, and all of them have led to people living as though the world was about to be no more, usually in some not great ways. I heard of folks buying the pollutingist big SUVs they could because the end was coming and polluting the world more would help bring it about. People have made end-time bunkers, spending untold amounts of time and money, isolating, staying away from others, because they believed the end was nigh. Some even had suicide cults where folks killed themselves at just the right moment as the world didn’t actually end.

God didn’t make this world for us to end it, and God didn’t make this world for us to suffer an apocalypse. God made us and made this world for us to live in it. “Be fruitful and multiply,” God said. Live in this world. Be blessed by this world. Give blessings into the world. That is God’s desire for our lives. Living is the point, living as though the sun will rise again.

So, as Paul pointed out in 2 Thessalonians, you can’t live if you don’t eat. See, there were folks in the church in Thessalonica who not only believe that the end was coming very soon, but they believed that the end had already happened. Some had stopped working because they misunderstood Paul’s message to them and thought that the end of the world and God’s full reign on earth had already happened. So, they stopped working.

Therefore, Paul wrote, “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.” That was his advice to a church where some folks were living in a kind of end-time cult. Thinking that the world had already ended, they thought they didn’t need to work. Great! Paul was saying. Have them not eat as well as not work, and see which happens first: the end of the world, or hungry bellies and malnutrition.  

As much as folks in the early church were expecting the end of days, they had to keep living as though the world was going to keep on turning. 

You can understand, why some had this misunderstanding about the end of days. Paul himself thought that the end of days was coming in his lifetime, months, and then maybe years after Jesus’ resurrection. Paul even wrote in 1 Corinthians 7 that ideally, folks should stop making babies. Best way to be, Paul wrote, don’t have sex, just devote yourselves to prayer. That was Paul’s advice. No sex. Don’t make babies. Just devote yourselves to prayer. 

He did make allowances. If you can’t not have sex, then at least only do it with your husband or wife, but best just not to have sex at all. He thought it was the end of days. Personally, I don’t know what not having sex has to do with the end of days, but for Paul it was a thing. 

So, Paul went on, for those who were unmarried, it would be best to stay unmarried, so you could devote yourself to prayer. If you couldn’t keep yourself from having sex, though, then at least get married and have sex with just the one person. 

Paul thought the end was coming very soon, and so his preference for the church was that everyone would stop having sex, just devote themselves to prayer, and of course, that would mean no more babies. Well, if that had happened worldwide, ain’t none of us would be here. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world, just the end of humanity.

Paul was wrong in his belief about when the end of the world would come. Paul’s advice about how to live an end of days life was actually not all that helpful because it wasn’t actually the end of days. The church in Thessalonica was wrong about their belief in the end of days, and since then, every end-time cult in the history of the world has been wrong. So far, the accuracy rate of all end-time predictions has been hovering really close to zero. Actually, it is zero. Even Jesus, to the extent that he thought the end was coming within his disciples’ lifetime was wrong, and Jesus admitted that he didn’t know when the end was going to be, that only God the Father knew. 

The point is that end-time cults, as well as the early churches that Paul started were living as though the world was about to end. They were all living as though some terrible apocalypse was about to happen, but that’s not how and why God made the world.

God didn’t make this world and place us in it just for the world to end or for us to suffer a great apocalypse. God made this world for us to live in this world in joy and peace, to live in this world loving one another and loving this beautiful creation. 

Now, I’ll admit, the end of the world is a lot of fun in fiction. Armageddon, Deep Impact, Independence Day, 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, Moonfall, Greenland, The Core: all of these end-time movies and more are hugely fun and wildly entertaining. There’s the big rush to try to save the world or for some few people to live through the end of the world. It’s exciting, and pulse-pounding, and a great escape from the daily grind and actual worries about actual life. 

Folks in these movies aren’t worried about where their next rent check is coming from, how farmers are going to grow food, what grocery prices are going to be, and if there will be enough to eat. For a few hours, watching these movies, we don’t have to worry about these things either. It’s the end of the world. We get to escape reality and imagine some apocalyptic future in which we just don’t have to worry daily life.

End of time predictions, end of time cults all have that same appeal. If it’s the end of the world, you don’t have to worry about much. You don’t need to work if it’s the end of the world. You don’t need to worry about food or anything else if it’s the end of the world. 

End of time predictions, even those of faithful religious people are misguided from the start because they are all about escape. We may often want to escape, and who can blame us? There are terrible things going on in the world. So, we try to escape through lots of things. We try to escape through alcohol and drug use. We try to escape through sex. We try to escape through violence. Some try to escape through end-time cults, and some try escape through end of days religious movements. If we have enough money, we try to escape by building rockets to go to Mars and things like that.

God didn’t make this world for us to escape it. Whatever way we choose to try to escape, God made the world not for our escape, but for our living. The thing with the whole end-time, apocalypse deal is, we know that eventually all will be well. We are told in many places through scripture that eventually, God will put all things right, and so we can rest some of our hope that eventually, all will be well.

In the meantime, our hope is not in escape. Our hope is in God’s great love for humanity that we get to be a part of making things well. God has given us strength, courage, wisdom, hope, love, so that we can be a part of making things well in this world. 

That was God’s gift to us in Genesis, to be a part of governing and caring for creation. God made us in God’s image and found us to be utterly delightful, and so God gave us power to help make things well. Then, God continued to give us even more gifts to help make things well. God gave the covenant and the Torah to the people of Israel. God gave us Jesus to teach us God’s ways and to join with us in every part of our lives. God called us beloved and gave to us over and over again so that we might be a part of making things well in this world, not to prepare for the end, but to prepare for the next turning of the earth. We get to work to make things well because the sun will rise tomorrow. God made us to live in this world in joy and peace, loving one another, healing one another, and loving and healing this beautiful creation. 

Saint Rachel. Trusting We are Loved. Avoiding Tummy Aches.

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
November 2, 2025
All Saints’ Sunday, C
Ephesians 1:11-23
Psalm 149
Luke 6:20-31

My son, on Halloween afternoon, said he was going to eat all of his Halloween candy that night and make himself sick. I didn’t point out that he was going to get sick if he ate all of his Halloween candy, mind you. He said, “I’m going to eat all of my Halloween candy and make myself sick.” I asked him not to, pointing out that if he did that, I’d have to take care of him, so really, he’d just be making life difficult for me, not to mention that he’d feel terrible and regret the decision. Grudgingly, he agreed to have mercy on his dad and not eat all of his candy in one night.

So, my darling angel chose to care about someone else and get a little less pleasure for himself. What a saint, and truly isn’t that the way of the saints? How blessed are you who don’t eat all of your Halloween candy in one sitting, for you avoid a tummy ache, as well as your father’s displeasure. That’s from an older version of scripture.

Seeking a little less pleasure for yourself so you can care more about other people and not get a tummy ache. That really does sound like what Jesus was talking about in the blessings and curses we heard him give in our reading from Luke 6 today.

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God…But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” Woe to you who eat all of your candy all at once and even take more of other people’s candy, so they don’t have as much and eat all of that too, but blessed are you who have just enough candy to enjoy and not get a tummy ache. It’s not the best analogy, but the point works. 

Woe to you who have far more than you need and tend not to be all that bothered by the struggles of those around you. Woe to you who have far more than you need and end up relying almost totally on yourself and your money, seemingly without the need of anyone else. 

That’s not how God made creation, for us to depend on ourselves alone with our stuff. We were made to depend upon one another. 

So, Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God is present when we are in love, and peace, and service with one another. When we are not rich, we kinda have to depend on one another, and Jesus calls that a blessing. Sharing what we have with one another, living with trust, and care, and concern for one another, that sounds like the kingdom of God. Sharing what we have with one another, living with trust, and care, and concern for one another, that sounds like the lives of the saints. 

Put that way, being a saint sounds kinda good, and not terribly hard.

I knew a young man when I was a youth minister, many years ago. He said he didn’t want to be a saint because it seemed too much like work. There were too many things he thought he’d have to say “no” to. He felt there was too much pleasure that he wouldn’t get to have.

So, he went another way with things, sought a lot of pleasure real fast, ate all of his candy at once, and he struggled quite a lot for many years. He’s doing well now, and it took a lot of work with his parents and others to help get him back on track.

Unfortunately, when he was younger, he had this notion that being a saint was all about behaving well, being good, and not enjoying life too much. He had this notion that following Jesus was all about not going to hell and having to be miserable in this life to avoid hell. Trouble is, both those notions are wrong.

Following Jesus is not about avoiding hell or being miserable in this life. Jesus never said, “Be miserable, or God will be displeased with you.” Following Jesus is about living and receiving a life of love, peace, and kindness with one another. Following Jesus is about living with trust, walking with God, and having hope for life abundant even after we die.

Being miserable is not part of the bargain. 

Being beloved and trusting how beloved we are, now that is part of the bargain.

Trust your belovedness, and then live in a way that brings love, peace, and kindness. Do not fear getting everything right. Just trust that you are beloved, and then live out that same love towards others. So, when Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God,” he wasn’t saying, “Make sure you’re poor so God doesn’t hate you,” Jesus’ teaching was more like, “Wait a sec, guys, you think you’re poor because God hates you? Look despite what others may say, you who happen to be poor are 100% beloved of God. Despite what others may say, you who are poor are not cursed by God. In fact, you who are poor are blessed by God, and the kingdom of God is yours to live, and love, and enjoy. 

Also, if you’re terribly jealous of those who are rich, who look down on you and think of you as cursed, God’s got some words for them, and they aren’t going to enjoy those words. 

Now, to be clear, there’s nothing particularly saintly about being poor, all by itself. Think of a guy who is angry and mean to everyone he sees, who then asks, “Do you think Jesus is cool with me? I mean, I’m a total jerk to everyone.” “Well, are you poor?” “Yeah.” “Ah, well then, you’re good. Don’t worry about it. Jesus is cool with you.”

Obviously, that’s not the case. You can be a hateful, mean, evil jerk, so long as you’re poor, of course not. Jesus wasn’t making a list of how to trick God into being on your side. 

Jesus was teaching us to trust that we are beloved, and then to live out that same love towards others. Think about the people we consider saints in our lives.

I’m thinking of one of our kid’s teachers, Saint Rachel. She was so good with our kiddo and strove with him when he was having an enormously hard time. She may never be in a book of saints or have her face on a medallion in a Christian store, but our family will always be grateful for Saint Rachel.

When we talk about people in our lives and say, “She was a saint,” we’re talking about how they were with us, the impact they had on us, the kindness, caring, and love they showed. They weren’t perfect, but they were saints to us, living the love of God and making that love real in our lives. 

That doesn’t mean perfection. It does mean habits and practices of doing good for others, treating other people as beloved. That’s part of what having faith in God is. We believe we are loved, and we let that belief be real enough to change our lives. See, we cannot separate what we believe from what we do. If we say we love God, but hate people, then we are lying to ourselves. We cannot claim to love God while hating people, and we cannot claim to love people while treating people terribly.

Having faith means we treat people well, and when we don’t treat others well, we work to repair any damage done. We see a beloved one whom we have harmed, and we work to help them heal. That’s having faith. Faith is not just what we believe with our minds, but also what we do with our bodies. 

God became human. So, our human bodies and what we do with them matter immensely. When we seek too much pleasure for our bodies all at once, eat all the Halloween candy in one night, we get a tummy ache, the people around us suffer, and our faith suffers. Our ability to receive God’s love and then love others in return suffers. So, being a saint is about living a faith of belief and action. Being a saint is not about being perfect. Being a saint is about believing we are loved, as Jesus taught that we are. Being a saint is about living out that love towards others, as Jesus taught us to do, and being a saint is about practicing that belief and way of living. 

Even as saints, we still get to have candy. We still get to enjoy life, and we get to do so with love and concern for others, trusting that we are loved. 

Is That Really the Salvation We Want?

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
October 26, 2025
Proper 25, C
Sirach 35:12-17
Psalm 84:1-6
Luke 18:9-14

“Jesus told a parable about those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that having contempt for other people still goes on. In fact, looking at other people and thinking, “They’re a piece of crap,” happens a lot. 

Just last Sunday, we had a near fight because one guy did something that irritated another guy, who then said something about it, which irritated the first guy. At that point, it was just back and forth. “He did something wrong.” “No, he did something wrong.” “He’s a terrible person.” “No, he’s a terrible person.” Spouting insults at each other, one ready to punch the other guy right there. 

Both were unable and unwilling to see their part of the problem. Both were unable and unwilling to say to themselves, “Maybe I did something that bothered this other guy,” and then say to each other, “I’m sorry about that.” Both saw themselves as the righteous one in the conflict, and both regarded the other with contempt.

Now, you could say that the argument between these two gentlemen last week had nothing to do with religion or seeing themselves as righteous in God’s eyes. You could say this was totally different than the Pharisee in Jesus’ story, bragging to God about how good he was, fasting, giving away his money. You could say two guys arguing with each other is different than some religious leader giving thanks to God about how good of a person he is. You could say that, but you’d be wrong. 

If asked, “Are you righteous before God?”, I’m sure both of these gentlemen would have answered, “No, I’m not righteous before God. I’m a sinner. No one is righteous before God.” The contempt they held for each other, however, shows that they at least felt more righteous than that guy, and they might have said so even before God. 

To be fair, I’m pretty sure most of us have numerous people we would want to stand before God and say, “But at least I’m not as bad as they are, right?” When asked, with regards to religion, “Are you better than other people?”, I’m guessing most of us know the “right” answer, “No. We all sin. I’m no better than anyone else,” and at the same time, I’m guessing most of us feel better and more righteous than other people when those other people bother us and do things we think are stupid. 

Are you better than that other person? “Hell yeah, I am! I mean, not in God’s eyes.”

Truth of our belief is now shown in giving the right answer. The truth of our belief is shown in how we feel about others and how we treat others. 

The Pharisee in Jesus’ story wasn’t treating others well. He was probably a really good guy, but in his view of being better than others, he was trapped in the sin of pride. We are often trapped in the sin of pride. Even when we’re right about the other’s faults, we can quickly fall into pride. From there, we very quickly fall into fighting with one another, getting pissed off all the time at every little thing people do around us. 

Is being right and constantly angry at every little thing people do around us really the life we want? “Thank God I’m not like that guy who said something stupid or did something bothersome.” “Thank God I’m not like that whole group of people who are terrible sinners. I’m a sinner too, of course, but I’m not like one of those people. The church taught me that those people are sinners, so thank God I’m not like them.” 

Is that really the salvation we want? Is a salvation of anger, pride, and irritability really the salvation we want?

Perhaps if we truly trusted how beloved we are, then we wouldn’t have a need to be better than anyone else?

See, beneath that sin of pride is the terrible fear that deep down, I’m not actually good enough, and I’m not actually beloved.

Look at the Pharisee in Jesus’ story. His fasting and giving a tenth of his income away were great things, but why was he doing them? Was he fasting and giving away part of his income to follow the correct rules and therefore have God be pleased with him? Was he in a competition with others for God’s love, in which only the best people really got loved by God? 

It looks like he was, except that’s not how love works. God doesn’t need to love you less to love me more. 

What if instead of wanting to do enough for God to love him, the Pharisee trusted that God loved him and then fasted and gave money away to be of help to others and to control his desires, so he didn’t do as much harm to others? Then, he might not have been looking down on the tax collector. He might have even heard the tax collector’s prayer and offered to show him the way of love.

“I heard your prayer earlier,” the Pharisee might say to the tax collector. “I’m sorry to intrude, but I heard your prayer, and I wondered if I might offer my belief that God loves you absolutely. God sees you, with all your faults, with all your sins, and God says, “My beloved.” 

What change might have happened then? Perhaps they’d have talked more. Perhaps the Pharisee could have suggested that the tax collector seemed fearful and seemed not to love himself that much. Perhaps if the tax collector learned to love himself more and to trust how incredibly beloved of God he was, then he begun living the kind of life he wanted as well. Maybe he wouldn’t have cheated people out of their money, but been content with what he had and worked to be of good service to others. 

Last week, there was another couple of guys who almost got into a fight. It was during breakfast, and the reason they didn’t get into a fight is because the one who was being insulted simply got up from the table and walked away. There was a guy at the table insulting him and threatening him, and instead of being tough and getting angry, he simply stood up and walked away. 

Walking away was treating the aggressor as a beloved one, choosing to leave, rather than harm him. Now, I doubt that was his thought. I don’t think that what went through his head was, “Hmm, you’re insulting and threatening me, but you are so beloved, I won’t harm you.” No, his thought was probably more like, “This guy is a jerk, but I really don’t want to fight. Also, I don’t much care if he insults me.” 

Trusting in God’s love, he didn’t need to fight over being insulted. Trusting in how very loved he is, the guy was able to walk away rather than fight back. He may have looked weak, but it didn’t matter because he knew how beloved he is. 

Fear and lack of believing that we are loved leads to pride, so that when we are insulted or bothered, we fight right back. We need to look strong. We need to look tough. We need to be right. Trusting how beloved we are, we don’t need to be right, or tough, or strong. God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and God loves us not because we are strong or right. God loves us simply because we are. 

My prayer for this morning is that we will all trust just how darn loved we all are. You are so loved. God became human, right? God loves humans so much that God thought it would be a good idea to become one of us. God became human as Jesus, and when Jesus died, he was resurrected; he was raised from the dead. In Jesus’ resurrection, God showed us that death is not the end of life, so we need not fear. God has declared us so beloved that God wants to keep us around even after we die. We get to live together, dwelling in God’s love. 

Why would we then declare ourselves anything other than beloved? Why would we declare other people anything other than beloved? When others bother us, remember that they are beloved, and remember that we are beloved. We are so ridiculously loved by God. 

Damnit, God! How Long Will You Ignore Me?

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
October 19, 2025
Proper 24, C
Genesis 32:22-31
Psalm 121
Luke 18:1-8

We have an adorable, 30-pound, terrier-pinscher, mutt-thing of a dog named Thor at home. He is sweet as he can be, a little neurotic, and dumb as a stump, by which I mean he’s actually not that dumb; he just has a mind of his own and doesn’t necessarily do what we want him to do all the time. Take eating, for example. We’ll put the food in his bowl, and if he’s not really ready to eat, it’ll make no never mind to him that our other dog, River, will eat all of his food, followed by all of hers. 

He knows he won’t get more food, so if he’s really hungry, he’ll stop her, otherwise, he doesn’t much seem to care that we want him to eat. He’ll just do without.

When it comes to eating our food, however, he is always hungry. The fact that he rarely ever gets our food doesn’t stop him from staring up at us, not whining, not being a pest, just staring, waiting, full-on expectant, loving puppy dog eyes. 

Not our daughter, but
still Thor begging food.

He did this with our daughter just the other day, following her around the house for five minutes as she went from room to room, eating her breakfast sandwich. We all watched, along with our daughter, chuckling, and eventually, he wore her down. She gave him a bit of cheesy, eggy biscuit, and he trotted off, happy as a dog with a bone…or bacon. 

Thor does this all the time, and he knows that most of the time, he’s getting nothing, but he still tries. He tries because maybe not today, maybe not this week, but eventually, his persistence will pay off, and he’ll get some bit of the people food that he dearly loves. 

So, regarding Jesus’ lesson, teaching us to pray always and not lose heart, my family is like the unjust judge, and our dog, Thor, is like the widow, wearing us down by his persistence. Would that we all had the same persistence in faith and prayer as that little dog has in getting people food, and yes, I realize I just compared all of us to dogs begging for food. Oops. 

Of course, so did Jesus and the Gentile woman who asked Jesus to heal her daughter. So, lesson learned? Call yourself a dog, and Jesus will give you whatever you want? Maybe not?

Faithfulness is what’s really going on: keeping at our faith even when we’re really tired of waiting, keeping at prayer and living the ways of Jesus. That’s what Jesus taught the disciples, “to pray always and not lose heart.” 

So, how’s this prayer sound? “Damnit, God. How long will you ignore me? How long will this crap keep going on? How long are you going to do nothing?”

Sounds a bit cheeky. Maybe a little heretical for a prayer, but it’s not. It’s really just a more modern, angsty teenager version of Psalm 13. “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me for ever? How long will you hide your face from me? Look upon me and answer me, O LORD my God” (Psalm 13:1, 3a)

Damnit, God. How long will you ignore me? How long will this crap keep going on? How long are you going to do nothing? 

“Pray always, and do not lose heart,” Jesus said. Now, sometimes you can’t help losing heart. That’s part of what prayer is for, to offer ourselves to God in those times when we have lost heart. The challenge is to keep praying through losing heart. Keep praying while you lose heart.

Jesus’ advice is to keep praying that “How long, O Lord?”, prayer. It’s an honest prayer. So, keep praying that prayer until it changes from “How long, O Lord?” to “Thank you.” That’s what happens in Psalm 13. The prayer changes from angsty teenager, “How long, O Lord?”, to “Thank you, Lord.” That change may take a while. It may take a long while. The change from “How long?”, to “Thank you,” may take a lifetime or many lifetimes. 

There were times for the people of Israel when it was generations before the prayer changed. Looking at life here in the United States, civil rights and equal rights for all people has been a struggle for generations. The “How long?”, has in many ways been changed to “Thank you,” and yet there are many ways we are still praying, “How long, O Lord?”

The change may take generations and longer, and so Jesus asks, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

What do we do while we are persistently praying and waiting? Our behavior has a lot to do with the answer to Jesus’ question. “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Will Jesus find us waiting patiently, prayerfully, and faithfully? Will Jesus find us living his teachings as we wait? That’s a question not only about our faith and faithfulness, but also the faith and faithfulness we may inspire in others. 

See, regardless of how much we pray or what we pray, what people see us doing is what they’re going to believe about Jesus. Truth be told, regardless of what we pray or how much we pray, what we do tends to show us where our faith really lies. 

In Bible study last week, we were talking about the ways of Jesus: forgiveness, choosing non-violence, etc. “That’s crazy,” one person replied. “In here, in the church,” he said, “it’s easy to talk about forgiveness and non-violence. Outside when you’ve got people coming at you all the time, it’s not so easy. It seems crazy to follow Jesus’ teachings out there.”

Well, yeah. As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:18, the Gospel does seem foolish, and yet it is the power of God. The ways of the streets are, be stronger, be tougher, be mean so you can survive, and it’s hard as hell not to be, and yet, that’s the way of the world. Are we going to put our trust in the ways of the world, or are we going to put our trust in the ways of Jesus?

Non-violence seems crazy. Fair enough. Non-violence in the face of injustice seems crazy, and yet it was non-violence that brought about the greatest change in the Civil Rights Movement. Looking at today, street protests seeking justice are good, until they get violent. Once violence starts, the people seeking justice are seen as villains, and so the justice they seek is seen as injustice. 

When a group of people cries out, “How long, O Lord?”, but also engages in crime and drugs, fighting and hurting other, how could that people expect that God should grant justice? The crime and violence delay any justice that could come, because the people who might have grant justice no longer will. They no longer see people in need of justice, but simply criminals in need of punishment.

Crying for justice doesn’t work if we do not also follow the ways and teachings of Jesus. “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” 

Where will Jesus find that our faith lies? What will our actions show about where our faith lies? How long are we willing to wait and be persistent in prayer to bring about the justice and peace we desire? How long are we willing to trust in the ways and teachings of Jesus as we wait for justice and peace? 

Are we willing to live the prayer and teachings of Jesus for generations as we wait for justice to come? Are we willing to be faithful over generations so our children and grandchildren can live the fruits of our faithfulness? 

If not, our children and grandchildren will live the fruits of our faithlessness and violence. We will hand them the same injustice and violence that we suffer. 

If we are faithful, however, if we continue in prayer, if we risk enough to follow the ways and teachings of Jesus, then our prayer will turn from “How long, O Lord?”, to “Thank you, Lord.” It may not be today. It may not be this year. It may not even be this lifetime, but the prayer will change. Justice will come. Even if it takes generations. If we are faithful in prayer and in action, if we follow the ways and teachings of Jesus, the prayer will change from “How long?”, to “Thank you.”

Yeah, but This Ain't Enough: Choosing Gratitude

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
October 12, 2025
Proper 23, C
2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
Psalm 111
Luke 17:11-19

Have you ever noticed how much we tend to take things for granted? We tend to get bored with things pretty quickly, and even with really great things in our lives, we often end up desiring something better or something more. We get so accustomed to the blessings in our lives that we no longer notice them. We no longer give thanks for them. We end up taking our blessings for granted, giving no more notice of them than our belly buttons, or our left pinky toe, or one random arm hair.

When we stop noticing our blessings and stop giving thanks for them, they kind of fade for us, like the sun on a cold and rainy day. It’s still there, but we can’t see it, can’t feel it’s warmth on our skin. When we stop noticing our blessings, they are still there, but we can no longer feel the warmth and healing of them in our hearts. Taking things for granted leaves us decaying on the inside. Faith, hope, and love dim as we take things for granted. The antidote for that, the bright light to shine in our hearts and revive our faith, hope, and love, is gratitude.

Jesus healed ten people in the story we heard today. All ten of them had leprosy, a terrible and contagious skin condition, so they were no longer allowed to be near other people. They were quarantined away from others and had to shout when others came near, warning them to stay away.

So, when these ten were healed of their leprosy, you’d think they would all have been so excited and grateful that they’d run back to Jesus and thank him, giving praise to God, but as we heard, that didn’t happen. Only one of the ten came back glorifying God and giving thanks to Jesus. 

Did the others take their healing for granted? Probably not. I imagine they were pretty darn happy, and they definitely were going to show themselves to the priests because the priests were in charge of ending their quarantine, but they didn’t go back and give thanks to the one who healed them. Maybe they just didn’t realize Jesus had healed them? After all, the healing happened when they were on their way to the priests, Jesus didn’t really do anything like wave his arms or touch them. Maybe they didn’t notice that he was the reason they were healed? 

No one’s that thick, right? Well, yeah, maybe they were. 

How often do we not see blessings in front of us? How often do we stress, fret, and get upset about problems, when there are good things around us if we would simply notice them? How often might we be healed if we simply noticed and gave thanks for the blessings in our lives, rather than taking the good things for granted.

In our reading from 2 Kings, Naaman seemed to take for granted that he should be healed. If there was a great healer, he should be healed by him, personally. Naaman was a big deal, and he should have been given the utmost respect and honor, he felt. So, when the prophet Elisha sent an underling to tell Naaman, to go bathe in the river, Naaman was pissed. “Doesn’t this prophet, healer guy know who I am, how important I am?”

Naaman’s pride got knocked down a few pegs, didn’t it, and because of that, he was no longer taking everything for granted. Naaman was no longer assuming everything should be owed to him, and so he became grateful for his healing, rather than take it for granted.

Taking the blessings in our lives for granted, rather than being grateful for them leaves us cold and in darkness. Gratitude, on the other hand, heals us, saves us, as surely as the physical healing touch of Jesus.

Giving thanks, rather than expecting more, that’s part of faith, part of a faithful life with God. We see this truth played out in Adam and Eve’s unfaithfulness to God.

Adam and Eve weren’t grateful for what they had. They took it all for granted and wanted more. “Thanks so much, God, this garden is absolutely wonderful. All of the trees, fruit, animals, top notch work on your part, God, and looking at each other, whoo, nice. So, truly, thanks a bunch, but we’re not really satisfied. Seen this, done that, so we’re just going to go ahead and take that thing you said not to.

Lack of gratitude from Adam and Eve, and suddenly all the beauty and wonder of everything around that was so good suddenly seemed grey, drab, leeching sorrow rather than bringing joy. “Yeah, it’s good, they thought, but it’s not good enough. We deserve better.

Imagine being in paradise with your ideal, perfect companion. You don’t have to work because the ground just makes food for you. You get to just enjoy life, walking with God and one another, truly not a care in the world.

Can you imagine ever saying, “Yeah, but what more is there? This isn’t enough?”

Yeah, me too. Given enough time, we tend to always find what’s lacking, what’s not good enough. Even given paradise, we’ll find a way to say, “Yeah, but it could be better.” 

Every time we do, we end up shutting ourselves off to the blessings we have, longing for some imagined blessing that we don’t have, certain that life would be ok if only we had that imagined whatever. 

The better woman or man to be with. I can’t accept this one’s faults and flaws anymore. They’re still fine, but I deserve better. I just found out something about them I don’t like that much, so I’m moving on. If there is a way to take a blessing for granted, we’re probably going to find it.

That’s why we need Jesus. That’s why God became one of us as Jesus. We start taking blessings for granted, and God is a part of us, guiding us back. By God becoming human, Jesus is in and through all of us, each one of us, so we can strive together and build each other up in gratitude. We can help one another notice our blessings. 

Now, this doesn’t mean we don’t get to be sad. Of course we get to be sad. There’s some really terrible stuff in the world. If we aren’t saddened by the horrors around us, well, then we have blinders on just as much as if we ignore our blessings. 

Choosing gratitude as a way of life does not deny pain and sorrow, but choosing gratitude does help us heal from pain and sorrow. The Gospel is ultimately all about our healing. So, a question is, do we take the Gospel for granted? Do we take the union with God and one another that has been given to us for granted? Do we take God’s forgiveness of us for granted? Do we, therefore, no longer notice the Gospel? Do we no longer notice God’s grace? Do we live lives without gratitude?

Of course we do. Like Naaman, like Jesus’ disciples, like the nine people Jesus healed, we all, at times, live without gratitude. We all stop noticing the blessings in our lives, sometimes something as simple and ordinary as the air in our lungs. So, we are reminded to notice. Look for and notice the blessings in our lives. When some blessing happens in our lives, give thanks to God from whom all blessing flow. 

That’s faith, choosing to notice the beauty and joy of life. Choosing to give thanks, sometimes even when the rainclouds gather and we can no longer see the sun or feel its warmth on our skin, we give thanks anyway, trusting that the blessing is still there. As we give thanks and choose gratitude as a way of life, then faith, hope, and love spring forth again in our hearts, and we find new and healed life once again. 

Poppy Seeds and Drowning Trees

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
October 5, 2025
Proper 23, C
Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4
Psalm 37:1-10
Luke 17:5-10

“Increase our faith,” the disciples commanded Jesus, and Jesus said, “No.” Strange, huh? How often was God pleading with the Israelites to have more faith? How often did Jesus say things like, “Do not doubt, but believe”? You’d think of all things that they would ask for, faith is one that Jesus would say, “Sure, man, more faith, deeper faith, all the faith you want, you got it!” That’s not what happened, though. He told them, “no.”

What Jesus was really telling his disciples was, “You don’t need more faith. You just need to do well and trust with the faith you’ve got.” 

That’s how the disciples had chosen to live, trusting Jesus and living as though his teachings really were the best way of life for them…until Jesus said ‘forgive people, like, a lot.’ That’s what Jesus had taught them just before they said, “Give us more faith!”

These are the same folks who had been healing people and casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Jesus told them to go do that, and they were so excited. They didn’t cower down and say they weren’t ready or not strong enough in faith. They went out boldly, healed the sick, and cast out demons like Buffy the Vampire Slayer on speed. They came back and were swapping stories, so excited.

Then, weeks or months later, Jesus taught them to forgive people who wronged them, not just once or twice, but over and over. Forgive people, Jesus taught, a lot, because people are kinda messed up, and they keep messing up, and as often as they do and then turn around and try to make things right, Jesus taught to forgive. Over, and over, and over, forgive people. 

Suddenly the disciples were saying, “Forgiveness, eh, eh, are your sure about that one, Jesus? Yeah, maybe I don’t trust you that much after all, but thanks a ton. It’s been great, loved casting out demons, don’t think I have enough faith in me for forgiveness, though.”

So, Jesus told them, no. You’re not getting more faith. You’re not getting more belief. What you have is enough. He told them that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to a tree, “Hey Tree, go throw yourself into a lake,” and the tree would pull its own roots out of the ground, walk over to the lake, and throw itself in. 

Now, I don’t think Jesus meant that we would or could actually do this. As a kid, I wondered, “Why can’t I make a tree throw itself into a lake? I guess my faith isn’t good enough?” I don’t know, maybe I only had a half a mustard seed or just a poppy seed of faith. 

No, Jesus doesn’t mean that we’re failures in faith if we can’t actually make a tree walk to its death in a lake. Jesus was using this kinda weird image to illustrate the point that his disciples didn’t need more faith to forgive people as he was teaching. Whatever small amount of faith they had was sufficient. What they needed was faithfulness. 

What they needed was to trust Jesus and be faithful to what he taught. Then, their faith would grow. Like not by faith alone, but also by faithfulness. That’s what we heard in Habakkuk. The righteous live by their faith, or really by their faithfulness. 

The disciples thought they didn’t have enough faith. Perhaps they doubted and so thought they couldn’t be faithful because of their doubt.

The opposite of faith, however, is not doubt. Jesus talked about faith the size of a mustard seed. That ain’t a lot of faith, which means you’re going to have doubt. In fact, you can’t have faith without doubt. Doubt goes hand in hand with faith, and we wrestle with it.

Mother Theresa, for example, was hugely faithful to God’s calling on her to care for orphaned children in Calcutta, India. She devoted her whole life to those children, and throughout her life she had faith and struggled with deep doubt. She wrestled with it, and Jesus didn’t grant her more faith. The faith she had was sufficient, and she remained faithful with even that small amount of faith. 

So no, the opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty. I don’t need faith to know that two plus two equals four. I need faith to believe that the people in my life who love me actually love me. I mean, I’m pretty sure they do, but I can’t read their minds. I trust them. Love is based on trust, on faith, and faith requires humility enough to admit that I don’t know everything, and I’m going to trust anyway. 

Through my wrestling with faith and doubt, I too wanted more faith, until I realized that what I really wanted was certainty. I’d so often heard people talk about their faith as certainty. Pastors would say they know their faith is true beyond any doubt, and I could never get there. I finally realized that I could never know with certainty, but I also realized I love God becoming human and joining with us physically in every part of our lives, and I love it so much that I choose to believe it. I still don’t know. I still have doubt, and I choose to believe anyway.

I admitted this to a group of pastors during a Bible study one day, and there was stony silence in the room. Finally, one of them said, “Well yeah, I have doubts just like you’re talking about, but I’d never admit that to my congregation.” There was agreement throughout the room by the rest of the pastors who all wrestled with doubts but who put on a show of having certainty in their faith. 

That means that those pastors were all lying to their congregations. They would never admit having doubts. They were pretending to have certainty that they didn’t have, and they were leading their people to think that they had to have certainty too. That means that these pastors were inadvertently leading their people away from the humility of faith and toward the pride of certainty.

Certainty says, I must be right. I am so certain that I am right, that I won’t even question it. You disagree with me. You, therefore, are not only wrong, but terribly, stupidly, sinfully wrong. 

The pride of certainty is not faith. That sound like how a lot of religious and political discourse goes nowadays? Behind certainty is the sin of pride. I am right. I know better. I am so important. I can put myself in God’s place. God said not to eat this fruit in the Garden of Eden, but I know better. I will do it anyway and place myself above God. 

Jesus said have faith the size of a mustard seed. Well, I’m going to do better than that. I’m going to have huge faith, certainty with no doubts. There’s pride there. Something is hard to believe or do, so I’ll go with certainty, rather than faith, and I’ll make sure that anyone who disagrees gets put in their place because despite what Jesus said, faith isn’t enough for me. I need certainty. 

No you don’t, Jesus said. Just have a little bit of faith, and follow that faith up with faithfulness. Trust in my ways, Jesus taught us, even when you’re not sure. Set yourself aside and trust in Jesus’ ways and teachings as we walk this life together. When I don’t think forgiveness is right, ‘cause it sure doesn’t feel right, I’m going to assume I don’t know everything. I’m going to trust in Jesus instead.

Faith is humble enough to believe in something, knowing that you’re not sure, and even not being sure, choosing to give yourself over to this belief. Faith says, I will give my heart to this belief. I will choose to live as though this faith is true. I will choose to live as though the teachings of Jesus really are the best way of life for me. I will let go of the certainty of self and humbly accept this little amount of faith, and follow where it leads.

Revenge or Repentance? Rage or Remorse?

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
September 14, 2025
Proper 19, C
Exodus 32:7-14
Psalm 51:1-11
Luke 15:1-10

Revenge or repentance? Rage or remorse?

Every Sunday, we pray together a prayer of repentance, the confession of sin, we call it, and that prayer includes not just each of our individual sins, but how we as a whole body of people have fallen short, hurting one another, putting our fear and our anger out into the world. We confess that we have sinned.

Say, for example, two people get into a fight. They’re both in not great moods, one pisses the other off, and they start throwing punches. I’d like to think it’s got nothing to do with me, especially if I wasn’t anywhere near them and didn’t even know them, but that’s not how sin works. The truth Jesus teaches is that even if I didn’t know them, I still contributed to their fight. In John 15:5, Jesus calls us branches on a vine, so whatever we’re contributing to the world, we’re contributing to everyone. 

I may not know the two people who fought with one another, but I have put my hurt, and fear, and anger out into the world in countless ways and in countless people’s lives. I may not know these two people who fought, but I contributed to the hurt, fear, and anger in the world which helped lead them to fight with one another. When violence happens in the world, when sin happens, we’re all a part of it, whether we’re directly responsible for it or not.

So, when right wing political activist and provocateur, Charlie Kirk was assassinated last week, on the one hand, I had nothing to do with it; I didn’t even know who the guy was until after he was killed. On the other hand, I have contributed to the hurt, anger, and fear in our world which helped lead to his death. 

When tragedy strikes, when people are killed, we are all responsible because we all contribute to the hurt, fear, and anger in the world.

And so, I ask the questions, revenge or repentance? Rage or remorse?

Jesus talked about there being more joy in heaven for one sinner who repents than for 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Of course there’s no joy in heaven over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance because those 99 righteous persons are fooling themselves. “We need no repentance,” they tell themselves. “Yes, you do,” the world replies back. 

Jesus gave this teaching in response to some religious leaders who were angry that he was eating with sinners. Sinners, as opposed to those very religious leaders whom society said were pretty good guys, but who also contributed to the hurt, the fear, and the anger in the world. 

So, to show these religious leaders that they weren’t as perfect as they seemed to think they were, Jesus told the story of a shepherd who left 99 sheep in search of the one sheep that was lost. Jesus was showing the importance of the sinners, the importance of the folks those religious leaders would have written off as being no good. Jesus was also showing those religious leaders that they weren’t as high and mighty as they seemed to think.

They were like the 99, but wouldn’t those 99 sheep still need the shepherd to fend off wolves and keep them together and safe? Of course they would. If the shepherd left the 99 to go get the one sheep, maybe instead of saying, “that God we’re not like that one dummy,” the 99 ought to follow the shepherd. 

Jesus’ message to the religious leaders was, y’all are sinners just as much as these other guys I’m eating with. Y’all need repentance too.

The same is true for us in our response to tragedy and murder. We tend to want to blame the one who did it, to blame only the one who did it, unless that one is a part of a group we don’t like, then we get to blame the whole group. That puts us in the same place as the religious leaders, incensed that Jesus was eating with sinners. We rage and want revenge. They are the bad ones. They deserve vengeance.

Jesus’ response to us, when we rage and call for revenge, is to ask us instead to seek repentance and remorse. “Hold on a second, Jesus,” we say. “We had nothing to do with it.” “Yes, you did,” the world replies. We poured our hurt, our fear, and our anger into the world and them somehow thought that the world would not be full of violence and hatred. 

We fight for what’s best for us, paying no never mind to how that may harm others, and we think that the world should not be full of violence and hatred. We assume our beliefs and ways are right and the others are wrong and so we dismiss them as wrong, and we think that the world should not be full of violence and hatred. We condemn others for their sins, giving thanks that God has forgiven us for ours, and we think that the world should not be full of violence and hatred.

Repentance and remorse is the response to tragedy that Jesus calls us to, our repentance and our remorse for our part in all of the violence and hatred in every tragedy in the world. 

When schoolchildren are gunned down in their classroom. Revenge or repentance? Rage or remorse?

When a senator and her husband are assassinated in their sleep. Revenge or repentance? Rage or remorse?

When an unarmed black teenager is killed for ringing the wrong doorbell. Revenge or repentance? Rage or remorse? 

When our government makes of show of force, botches a raid, and leaves 76 people killed, including 25 children. Revenge or repentance. Rage or remorse?

When terrorists kill thousands, flying planes into buildings. Revenge or repentance? Rage or remorse?

The revenge and rage response to all of those is totally justified. Of course people rage and want revenge in the face of terrorism, assassination, and murder. Of course people want revenge. The rage and revenge that we have sought, however, has only led to more killing, to more mistrust, to more hurt, fear, rage, and revenge.

So, what kind of world do we want to live in? What kind of lives do we want to lead? Revenge or repentance? Rage or remorse?

In the face of tragedy, murder, assassination, terrorism, government brutality, Jesus calls us to repentance and remorse, because we are all the one, the lost sheep Jesus goes and looks for. We’re also all the 99, the ones who think we are righteous but who really need to follow the shepherd when he goes to look for the one. We need to ask ourselves when that one is lost, when tragedy strikes, what kind of world do we want to live in? What kind of lives do we want to lead? Revenge or repentance? Rage or remorse?