Living Into Our True Humanity

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
August 31, 2025
Proper 17, C
Sirach 10:12-18
Psalm 103:1-8
Luke 14:1,7-14

Pride, to feel that I matter above anyone else. Pride, to be so angry when someone hurts me, insults me, or looks at me wrong, that I hurt or insult them back, because after all, I’m more important than they are. Pride, to turn inward, putting walls up around me, letting no one in because it’s safer that way and I don’t need anyone else anyway. In all of these ways, pride is to forsake God.

We heard in our reading from Sirach that the beginning of pride is to turn away from God, to pull our hearts away from God. 

When we pull our hearts from God, then we assume that we are all-sufficient, that we have no need for others, that we trust no one and nothing. When we pull our hears from God, we have pride leaving us alone, hurting, often with violent anger which lashes out at others. As we heard in Sirach, however, neither violent anger nor pride were made for human beings. We’re not made to be prideful and violently angry. We’re made to be loving and supportive towards one another. We find our full humanity in being loving and supportive towards one another. When we withdraw and isolate in pride and violent anger, we pull further and further away from our own humanity.

Sometimes when I’ve seen folks get violently angry, or gotten terribly angry myself, I’ve heard folks say things like, “but he insulted me,” as though being insulted is a good reason for beating someone, punching and hurting them. Talk about pride leading to violent anger. He insulted me; he wounded my pride, so I am going to get violently angry now. 

Ok, so on the one hand, that’s all too human. We strive, we struggle, we get hurt, we make mistakes. We lash out. We isolate. We’re human; we mess up. On the other hand, pride and violent anger take away from our true humanity.

Our true humanity dwells in love. Our true humanity dwells in forgiveness. Our true humanity dwells in kindness and in caring about others. 

I preached several weeks ago about Mr. Rogers. He was someone whom we tend to put on a pedestal. He was like a saint, so wonderful and kind. Ok, but Jesus was telling us not to put people up on pedestals in the teaching we heard today. When we put some people up on pedestals, we tend to devalue others. These great ones are so wonderful, and these others are, eh, not as good. 

When we put folks on pedestals, we also tend to elevate them even above ourselves. They are someone great, not someone like me. They can be kind, and caring, and wonderful because they are special, somehow, not like me. We tend to do that with people like Mr. Rogers, and his widow was adamant that people not put him on a pedestal. After all, Mr. Rogers believed all of us can be people of kindness, forgiveness, love, and caring. If we assume that we can’t, that people like Mr. Rogers are saints and we can’t achieve that, well that’s just another kind of pride. 

I’m different. Someone else can do that, but not I. I’m not special enough to be able to be as kind and caring as that person is. The reality is that for Mr. Rogers and anyone who is kind and caring, it’s a choice and it takes work. 

For any who think that Mr. Rogers was a saint, and I can’t do that, the truth is that it may just take more effort than we’re willing to put in. We’ll, if we’re unwilling to put in the effort, that’s the same kind of pride that says, “I matter above anyone else. I matter too much to waste my time working to be kind, forgiving, loving, and caring to others.”  

When we put people like Mr. Rogers up on a pedestal as some kind of special saintly person and we tell ourselves we can’t be that good, we are forsaking God and others, because it is safer and easier not to have to work so hard. Overcoming our pride takes work. Not lashing out in violent anger takes work. Living into our true humanity takes work.

For Jesus, it took the work of the cross. “Father, forgive them,” he prayed, as he allowed himself to be crucified, rather than calling on hosts of angels to rescue him and kill his killers. That was Jesus’ work for our sake, to free us and to help us live into our true humanity. 

“Take up your own cross and follow me,” he said. We don’t have to be crucified, but living into our true humanity takes work. 

Sometimes that work looks like daily, hourly, or minute by minute prayer for God’s help so that we might live in kindness, rather than lashing out at others. Sometimes that work looks like sharing our difficulties with others and asking for their help so that we might live in love and caring, rather than pride. Sometimes that work looks like taking medicine because our brains need extra help to live into our true humanity, to overcome depression, violent anger, and other mental illnesses that we face. All of that work is what we can do to live into our true humanity.

Jesus taught us not to take places of honor, assuming we’re better than everyone else. Sometimes that means not putting others up on pedestals, as we refuse to do the work it takes to live into our own true humanity.

I had a friend, years ago; we were talking about the saints, and she said, “I don’t want to be a saint.” She was thinking of being a saint as being kinda miserable, giving up everything that makes you happy so that you can be good enough for God. That’s not what being a saint is; that’s just being miserable. No, being a saint looks like doing the work you need to do to care for others. Being a saint looks like recognizing that we are all in this life together.

At the beginning of our service this morning, we sang, “Satan, we’re gonna tear your kingdom down.” Satan, the Adversary, keeps us divided. Satan keeps us saying, “We’re not in this together.” “You don’t belong.” “I’m more important than you.” “We’re against one another,” or at the very least, “You’re against me, so I must be against you.” 

In all of those ways that we remain against one another, we’re helping to build up Satan’s kingdom. When we exclude the undesirables, put others on pedestals, and determine that being kind and caring to others is too much work, we’re helping to build up Satan’s kingdom.

Now, long-term, big picture? Jesus has torn Satan’s kingdom down. While we get to live out Satan’s kingdom if we choose to, Satan’s kingdom has ultimately been torn down, by Jesus on the cross. So, we get to live Jesus’ kingdom. 

We get to live the kingdom of kindness, mercy, love, and caring, and even if we have been building up Satan’s failed and doomed kingdom, we always get to come back. Jesus welcomes us with open arms, saying, “Come on, let’s start building together.” Living and building Jesus’ kingdom is work, but think about how much more work it is to live against one another. Think about how much more work it is to live with pride and violent anger? 

Following Jesus’ way, doing the work, and building up Jesus’ kingdom, we get to let go of our pride and violent anger. We get to live and work for kindness, forgiveness, love and caring for all.

Beautiful Neighbors

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
July 27, 2025
Proper 12, C
Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)
Psalm 138
Luke 11:1-13

Eventually, maybe one day, I’ll feel complete. If I gain enough success in life, I’ll feel like I have accomplished enough to feel good about myself; or maybe if I earn enough money, or get enough stuff, then I’ll feel like I’m ok. That’s kind of ridiculous, yeah? The thought that I’ll finally be a whole and complete person if I only have enough, well, that’s a ridiculous thought, and I’m guessing that if you asked just about anyone if they need more money or success or stuff to be a whole and complete person, they’d likely say, “no,” and yet the drive for more is still there.

What drives us to have more, to get more, to be more? What gnaws at our subconscious telling us, if we just have this one more thing, if we can just achieve this, then we’ll be ok? Something seems to be telling us that as we are, we’re not good enough. Perhaps that starts at a young age?

I was watching a movie about Mr. Rogers the other day. Y’all remember Mr. Rogers, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, the kids show on PBS years and years ago? “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Won’t you be, won’t you please? Please won’t you be my neighbor?” He was so kind, and on his show and in his life, he showed others how to be kind. He had a great love of children, and he taught kids how to deal with their emotions and showed them how wonderful they were. 

One thing Mr. Rogers talked about was how wonderful and beloved kids are, not because of who they’ll be one day, but that they are wonderful and beloved just as they are. 

What if, as kids, we already know we are complete? What if, as kids, we already know that we are valued and loved just as we are, not because of who we’ll one day be?

Perhaps then we wouldn’t feel the need for enough money, possessions, or success to feel whole. 

I’m not saying this to knock anyone’s parents, but I’m guessing we’ve all had people in our lives who in one way or another made us feel like we had to achieve something to be ok. Think about some of the messages we often get as kids. “Don’t cry.” “Be quiet.” “You shouldn’t be so angry.” “Stop being so sad.” “Smile more.”

Mr. Rogers pointed out that saying things like that to kids makes them feel like they don’t belong, like they aren’t good enough as they are, like their emotions aren’t welcome. Kids are trying to figure out how to belong, and a lot of the messages they get are, “You don’t quite belong in this adult world. You need to change in order to be ok.” This makes sense because parents are trying to prepare their kids for adulthood, but kids often get this notion that, “I’ll be good enough, I’ll belong, once I have achieved” whatever it is: enough money, enough success, enough fame, enough stuff. 

For Mr. Rogers, encouraging kids wasn’t about telling them how great they’ll be when they’re grown? For him, encouraging kids was about telling them how great they are now.

How children feel about themselves is what I care about most. If we can help our children feel accepted and valued when they are small, they’ll have a better chance of growing into adults who can feel good about who they are, too. – Fred Rogers

That’s right in line with the teaching Jesus offered us in our Gospel today. “Take care!” Jesus said. “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Jesus told this to a man who wanted what he felt was his share of his family’s inheritance. 

Was this guy really struggling for money, or did he just want more to feel better about himself, to feel complete, to feel worthy? He didn’t say he was impoverished, and you’d think he would have led with that if it was the case. No, it sounds like the guy was hacked off that his brother was getting more than he was. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair, and if he could only get more of the inheritance, then he’d be ok, and it was all about comparison. 

He had enough, but he had less, compared to his brother, so he felt some aching, some longing to be complete. Jesus taught him, though, that having more or less doesn’t make us more or less. Having enough for status doesn’t actually improve our lives, and we don’t need it to be healed and loved.

That goes counter to some preaching that’s out there. Name it and claim it? Give your money to whatever ministry, and God will bless you with even greater wealth? That kind of preaching ain’t about the gospel. The name it and claim it preaching is simply feeding into our insecurities of not belonging, of not being enough, of not having enough. Rather than telling us the truth of God’s love for us, as we are, for who we are, the name it and claim it preaching is fueling the lie that we need more in order to be ok. 

Jesus wants us to know that our lives are not made complete by status, wealth, success, and stuff. Our lives are made complete by love. 

There was a study done about wealth and happiness, showing that having tons more money that you need doesn’t actually make you happier. Now, for a person making $30,000 a year to get a salary increase to $60,000 a year, they end up much happier. So much less stress and so much more freedom, not worrying nearly so much about where food is gonna come from or if they can afford rent. That doubling of salary from $30,000 to $60,000 makes a huge difference in happiness. 

For a person making $500,000 a year, however, if they double their salary to $1,000,000 a year, they don’t actually end up much happier. They can certainly buy a crud ton more stuff, but that doesn’t tend to translate to improved quality of life or improved happiness. 

It turns out that modern social science is learning the truth that Jesus taught a couple thousand years ago. Our lives are not about having a bunch of stuff, and our lives aren’t actually made better by having a bunch of stuff.

 

The happiest people are those who have quality relationships with other people. Again, that’s what Jesus taught and how Jesus lived. When Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God and having riches in the Kingdom of God, he was talking about the love we have for others and they love others have for us. 

Here’s the Gospel secret, or not so secret, God has that love for us, and we don’t need to be better, do better, earn more, or have more to earn God’s love. We’re already complete, and we’re already completely beloved just as we are. 

“Jesus, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 

“Dude, I ain’t here to make you rich, man. I’m here to tell you, you don’t need to be. You’re already complete. You’re already whole. You already belong to God’s family just as you are.

When We Serve Others, They Are the Messiah to Us

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
August 23, 2020
Proper 16, A
Exodus 1:8-2:10

Romans 12:1-8

Matthew 16:13-20

When We Serve Others, They Are the Messiah to Us

Y’all may have heard that there’s some sort of national presidential election thing coming up?  A presidential election is always an important event, but there seems to be almost messianic fervor in this election, either for Trump/Pence or for Biden/Harris.  This messianic fervor makes sense in a way; there’s a lot that is less than wonderful going on in our world right now:  COVID-19, hurricanes, economic downturn, murder hornets.  It’s little wonder that we want a messiah.  

Neither Trump/Pence nor Biden/Harrisis, however, is that messiah, and as a side note, those who support either one of them are neither evil incarnate nor stupidity incarnate.  

In our messianic fervor, however, we tend to view people that way.  We tend to see some as the messiah and others therefore as the anti-messiah, or the little “c” anti-christ.  We have a lot of deep and strong ire for those who support the one’s we don’t see as messiah, and unfortunately, we tend to act out of that ire and make the situation even worse.  In our desires to fix everything, we can end up breaking things even more.  Further, none of our little “m” messiah’s are going to actually save us all or fix everything, and deep down, we know this, and yet in the midst of chaotic and uncertain times, in our messianic fervor, we still want a messiah who will come and fix everything.

So, in the midst of our messianic fervor, who do we say the messiah is?  Who do we way Jesus is?  We say Jesus is messiah, and yet even Jesus did not fix everything the way we would want all of our little “m” messiah’s to do.    There are still problems in the world and challenges for us to overcome.  

Like us, the disciples wanted a messiah who would fix everything from their point of view, make everything the way they thought it should be.  They probably wanted a messiah who would bring about and rule over a physical kingdom, squashing their enemies and ruling with them on top, always bringing about what they knew to be right.  There would be winners and losers, those with power and those without power.  

That’s not the kind of Messiah Jesus was or is.

An illustration of the kind of messiah Jesus is came in a picture I saw on a friend’s Facebook page last week.  It was a picture of a sign posted in a church.  The sign read:

“Warning:  Articles of value should not be left on seats whilst receiving holy Communion.”

There were a variety of reactions to this church sign, and there were a couple of comments of, “Sad,” and “Well, that is kind of sad.”

The idea was, “How terrible that this would happen in a church.”  “We’re supposed to be better than that.”  “How could people who would steal be in a church?”  Is a church in which, “articles of value should not be left on seats whilst receiving holy communion,” the kind of church of a messiah.  Is that the kind of church Jesus had in mind when he said, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it?”  Why yes, I believe it is.

A couple of other comments on that picture of “Warning:  Articles of value should not be left on seats whilst receiving holy Communion,” were:

We [the church] are a collection of screw ups...slowly transformed by walking together with Jesus...and we’re still a bunch of screw ups.

Another wrote:

I only want to be in a church where there’s a sign like this. It means all sorts and conditions of people are there to hear the gospel!!!

Still another wrote:

Too many times we want everyone else around us to be perfect.

We forget that a church is supposed to be a place where people come for healing, for hope, for redemption, for restoration, for love, [and] for grace

Sad? Absolutely not! …That church with that [warning] sign…[is] doing exactly what Jesus is doing: meeting people in their mess, in their imperfection and still loving them and giving them room to be transformed by the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

Room to be transformed by the love and grace of Jesus Christ, that’s what we need from our messiah, and that’s what Peter had in his walk with Jesus.  He was transformed over years from a fisherman who kept on screwing up in his walk with Jesus, to the rock on which Jesus founded the church, who still screwed up from time to time.  Peter learned that having a messiah didn’t mean he was going to rule or to be served, but that he was going to be healed and strengthened so that he could serve, so that he could be a blessing. 

Who do we say Jesus is?  Is Jesus the one who makes us perfect so that we can be around other perfect people?  Nah.  That’s not who Jesus is, and that’s not what the church is.  The church is the broken, the beaten, the blessed, and the damned, people who need healing, gathering together for strength and support.  The church is people who are imperfectly following Jesus and receiving his love and grace, to be healed and blessed in order to bless others.

Neither presidential candidate is going to do that.  Neither is going to fix everything, and doing so is not what the messiah is in the first place.

You want to see the Messiah?  Don’t look to the one who is going to fix everything for you.  Look to those who help heal people in order that they may be a blessing to others.  There are all kinds of ways we can heal each other.  A kind word, a gentle touch.  Having compassion on and sticking with people in their challenges.  Sometimes it is helping others with their physical needs, or letting someone else help us with ours.  Sometimes people are blessings to us when they help us see our own faults so that we stop viewing others as the problem. 

If you want to see the Messiah, look to the helpers, as Mr. Rogers said, and if you want to see the Messiah, look to the ones whom you can help.  Matthew 25:31-46 tells us that we encounter Jesus in the hungry when we help feed them.  We encounter Jesus in the lonely and imprisoned when we visit them.  We encounter Jesus in the sick when we help care for them.  Being of service to others doesn’t make us the messiah.  When we are of service to others, we encounter them as the messiah.  When we are of service to others, we get out of our own minds, out of our own troubles and worries, and instead of being overwhelmed by our own challenges, we get to be a blessing.  Blessing others helps save us.  

Who do we say Jesus is?  Who do we say the messiah is?  The messiah is the one or the ones who heal us and save us often from ourselves, by drawing out of us the power we have with God to be a blessing to others.  The messiah helps heal us and helps us to see each other as fellow messed up people in need of healing.  The messiah helps us not to fix or change each other, but with God’s help to heal and bless each other, giving each other room and time to be transformed by the love and grace of Jesus.