Punk-Rock Mary

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets, Houston
December 22, 2024
4 Advent, C
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-55

We just heard in our Gospel reading Mary’s words of praise to God, not only for placing Jesus to grow in her womb, but also praise to God for the upheaval God has planned for humanity. We call Mary’s words, “The Song of Mary” or “The Magnificat”, and I heard a comment last week that someone wished there was a punk-rock version of the Magnificat, and that seems to fit pretty darn well the whole idea of Mary’s song. The status quo ain’t quo, and God is not ok with how things are: the rich get richer while the poor struggle ever harder. 

That won’t stand in God’s eyes; there will be an upheaval, Mary proclaims. The lowly will be raised up, and the rich will be sent empty away. If that ain’t punk rock, or rap, or metal, or any kind of protest music, I don’t know what is. 

We’ve got these quiet, mindful, demure images of Mary, hands folded, piously looking heavenward: a dutiful little housewife with no real will of her own, other than to say, “You bet!” to the Holy Spirit impregnating her with Jesus. Hmm, let’s look at Mary for a minute.

She was likely about 14, the general age for marriage back then, and she was risking everything by saying “Yes” to God’s offer to have her be the mother of Jesus, the mother of God as a human being. She was risking her marriage as Joseph may or may not have believed and understood that she was bearing God’s son. She was therefore risking her life because if Joseph didn’t believe that she was bearing God’s son, she could have been killed for adultery, bearing another man’s child. If not killed, she was still risking being ostracized and outcast for dishonoring her family and bringing some unknown man’s child into the world with no real hope of land or security.

So, Mary was taking a big risk by saying “Yes” to God. “Let it be with me, your servant, according to your will,” she said to God, and she seems to have been pretty darn excited about it. Quiet, mindful, and demure? No, Mary was excited, faithful, and outspoken, and she spoke out about what God was doing in the world by becoming human and living among us. “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,” she said, because she was so excited about what she knew what was coming.

She knew what the angel Gabriel had told her, that Jesus would be the son of God and that he would rule forever. Mary also seems to have known the scriptures because what Mary was describing in her punk-rock, rap, metal protest song was the kind of status quo smashing action that God had taken continually throughout the scriptures. 

Oppression of the poor laborers by the rich ruling class, yeah, that kind of stuff has never sat well with God, and we see throughout the scriptures God telling the people of Israel and other nations that a reconning is coming because of their oppression of the poor. ‘Oh, you’re very religious, and that’s great,’ God would say, ‘but when you have a society in which those at the top keep getting more and those at the bottom don’t have enough to live on, then by your actions you show that I’m not the one you’re worshipping.’ 

That was God’s complaint, over and over. There was outright idolatry too, but time and again, God’s big complaint against the people was that when their society became one in which the rich had more than they could ever need and the poor worked hard for not enough, then the people’s god had become something other than actual God. 

“But we worship you all the time,” the people say, and God says, “Yea, I don’t know you, for I was naked and hungry, without shelter, and you did nothing but stare with indifference and contempt.” That’s how Jesus said judgement will be, the same kind of reconning that God has brought throughout human history. 

So, when Mary sang, “God has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty,” she was being a punk-rock prophet. She was remembering what had happened over and over when God intervened in our world.

Now, we could look at Mary’s protest anthem as a song about class warfare, rich vs. poor, the rich losing the battle and the poor overtaking them in conflict. As a rock song, that would certainly sell a few albums, and the movie would be great to watch, but I’m not sure God would be all that delighted in such devastating a conflict. 

See, what we read about God and what we hear Mary proclaim is that God does not desire for one group to rise up and destroy the other. It happens a lot. An oppressive and powerful minority is eventually ousted as the oppressed rise up in violence against them. We recently saw this happen in Syria as the oppressive government was overthrown after over a decade of civil war.

Violent uprising is the way things tend to go after the oppressed have finally had enough, but I don’t think that’s what Mary was singing about. Punk-rock Mary was a revolutionary, but not a violent revolutionary. John the Baptist was in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth when Jesus was in the womb of Mary, and even in the womb, when John heard Mary speak, he leapt for joy.

The revolution that Mary was singing about was the kind of revolution that John started when he went into the wilderness baptizing people. Mary was singing about a revolution of repentance. That’s the kind of revolution we see God desiring throughout scripture, constantly warning the people that violent revolution is coming if you don’t repent of oppression. Violent revolution is coming, God warns, if your society doesn’t stop claiming to worship me while actually worshipping wealth and power. 

God’s desire is to break the cycle of violent uprising. God’s desire is revolution of repentance where the rich and all of society will turn away from their love of wealth and power and instead learn to love one another. That is what John proclaimed in the wilderness. That is what Jesus taught over and over again. That’s what Jesus gives us the power to do.

In our world today, we can’t go on as we are. A society increasingly ruled by wealthy oligarchs who push for rules to benefit themselves while almost fifty percent of people struggle to make ends meet. Society can’t go on that way.

So, we look to Jesus, to the revolution of repentance and love which he brought. We sing the song of punk-rock Mary, calling for and living for a revolution of repentance and love, rather than a violent revolution. That’s why Mary’s soul proclaimed the greatness of the Lord. God lifts up the poor and the oppressed. God turns our hearts to repentance and love to end oppression by breaking the cycles of violence and leading us to God’s kingdom of peace. 

Laying Down Our Burdens: Not a Religious Quest; Just Let Love Rule in Your Hearts

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets, Houston
December 15, 2024
3 Advent, C
Philippians 1:3-11
Canticle 16
Luke 3:1-6

Lay down your burdens. That was at the heart of John’s call for people to repent and be baptized. Now, I know it didn’t sound that way with all of the “brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come” business, but laying down our burdens is ultimately what we are doing when we follow John’s call to repent and begin again.

Folks were coming to John from all around, and they were journeying far. This was not just a stop by your local curb mart a few blocks away. This was for some a days-long journey, a holy pilgrimage almost, and as they traveled, they carried heavy burdens with them. I don’t just mean the food and shelter they had brought for the journey.

Each person making that journey out into the wilderness to see John was carrying with them the burdens of their whole lives. All the things that were weighing on their hearts. Their sorrows. Their worries. Their fears. They carried all of these heavy burdens with them on the way.

Of course they were also carrying burdens they knew little or nothing about. Their selfishness. Their lack of concern for others. Their blindness to their own faults. Those were the burdens John was talking about when he called them, “vipers.”

You gotta love John. These people had traveled out into the wilderness to see him, and when they arrived, John didn’t welcome them and invite them to rest their weary souls. No, John called them a “brood of vipers.”

“Brood of vipers?” They thought, “But, but, but we’re the special people. We’re children of Abraham. We’re God’s wonderful, happy favorites. This baptism is just reaffirming how great we are, right? We’ve come to you for baptism to show how fantastic we are, right John?”

Nope, that was not John’s message. In fact, John asked everyone, “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” I’m sure the one guy piped up, “Um, nobody? God’s wrath is supposed to be for everyone else?” John let them know in no uncertain terms that they too are liable to God’s wrath for all of those burdens they knew nothing about.

“Well, then what are we supposed to do?” They asked.

I love this question and answer, because you can see the wheels turning in their minds. They were probably thinking they needed to do some big religious gesture, like Baptism followed by some super prayer, fasting, altar sacrifice thing for the next six months. The people were like Naaman, the Assyrian, centuries before, who had leprosy and had heard there was a prophet, Elisha, in Israel who could heal him. When he went to Elisha to be healed, he expected he’d be given some grand and glorious quest, and instead, Elisha sent a servant and said, “Just tell him to go wash in the Jordan river.”

Naaman was angry because the healing process was so simple. “That’s not even a good river,” he said. “Ours are much better,” but folks convinced him to wash, and he was healed of his leprosy. Such a simple thing, wash and be clean.

For the people of Israel seeking John’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, it was also really simple. “What are we supposed to do?” They asked. “Stop cheating people,” John said. “Stop stealing from others. A lot of you have more than you need; try giving some of what you have to others who don’t have enough. If you’re jealous of what others have, groovy, but threatening folks to get more out of them ain’t the way to go.”

What John had to say to people was very, very simple. You don’t need a religious quest. Just be kind to others, stop seeing them as your enemy, and let love rule in your hearts.

That’s the laying down of our burdens. We get so stressed out and worried about life that we forget very basic things like be kind to others and let love rule in your hearts. Like the folks who came to see John, when we get stressed, worried, and fearful, we get kinda dumb, and we have to be taught or retaught simple things like, “Don’t cheat people out of their money.” “Stop stealing from folks.”

Starting with that reminder, not to treat others badly, and taking note of how we have been, that is the beginning of laying down our burdens. When we lay down our self-reliance and care about others again, then begin to rely on God again, casting our worries upon God, rather than feeding our fears.

“Bear fruits worthy of repentance,” John said. That call is not just to come be baptized. Baths are great, don’t get me wrong. Ritual baths, also wonderful. Whether you just get some water sprinkled on your head or you get fully submerged in a pool or ocean of water, Baptism is wonderful. It marks a new beginning.

The call, however, is not just to mark that new beginning, ask for Jesus’ help, and then go on with life just as you had before. If we’re thinking that after baptism, “God’s gonna change things, even though I won’t,” that’s not gonna work. That’s like laying down our burdens, being washed from the grime of carrying them, and then just picking them right back up to continue on.

The call of John, and the call of Jesus today is to change how you live and to let God change your life. Lay down the burdens of fear and anger. Lay down the burdens of treating others badly. Then choose something different to carry.

Pick up the light load that Jesus offers. Different reactions than anger, a different mindset than all about me. The light load that Jesus offers is to rely on God, not on your own strength. The light load that Jesus offers is to be kind and caring towards others, not to be tough, and strong, and intimidating. The light load that Jesus offers is to be a person of peace.

There’s nothing huge or extraordinary about the light load that Jesus offers. You don’t need to become a Bible scholar. You don’t need to be the most Jesus-worshipping religiousy person in the room.

Repenting, laying down your burdens, choosing a different way, and letting God change your life, is actually really simple. Paul laid it out pretty well is his letter to the Philippians as we heard today.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-11)

When We Know Forgiveness, We Know Salvation

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston

December 8, 2024
2 Advent, C
Philippians 1:3-11
Canticle 16
Luke 3:1-6

Have you ever felt guilty about something you did? Ever felt bad about hurting someone, even if they didn’t know it, you lied or cheated, and betrayed someone’s trust or love? Have you then ever been forgiven by the one you’ve harmed for the things you’ve done?

If so, then you know the immense release that comes with forgiveness. The healing that goes on inside of us when we are forgiven, and our guilt recedes, and a weight is lifted because the one we have harmed has restored us to being ok. We’re no longer wracked with guilt. We’re no longer separated from one another. We’ve been restored to the possibility of love between one another. That is salvation.

The problem we see that needs fixing, from the Eden onward, is our disconnection from God and disconnection from one another. As we hurt one another, we pull away from one another, we put up barriers and shields to keep us safe. We walk around with anger in our hearts, showing others that we’re tougher than are so they won’t hurt us. We walk around with fear in our hearts pulling away from others before they have a chance to hurt us.

We see one another as threats, knowing that we’re often right, that others are threats, but mostly because they see us as threats.

We compete with one another out of scarcity for money, jobs, food, shelter. Since we feel we can’t trust others, we tend to go for winner take all, the American Dream of being billionaires while others work for them without enough to pay rent. Even further disconnection.

In our disconnection and mistrust, we turn to drugs, sex, alcohol, and anything else we can in order to feel better or not to feel at all. Those things don’t help, but they disconnect us even further. Angry, afraid, disconnected lives, seeing others as enemies to be feared or conquered…does that sound to anyone like Hell on Earth? That's because it is.

Disconnection is the Hell on Earth we know all too well. Salvation, then, is reconnection, reconnection with God and reconnection with one another.

John the Baptist went out into the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and we are told that John did this so that people would know salvation through forgiveness of their sins.

Forgiveness brings us reconnection, and reconnection is salvation from the Hell on Earth that we so often live. When we are restored to one another through repentance and forgiveness, we’re no longer separated from one another, and we are restored to the possibility of love between one another. That is salvation.

When we know forgiveness, we know salvation. 

So, as followers of Jesus, our way of life is the way of forgiveness. Ideally, we follow the way of forgiveness because we actually know the healing and salvation that forgiveness bring. Some folks maybe don’t.

Some folks might say, “no,” to the question, have they ever felt guilty about something they did. Some may be too afraid to face it or admit it. Some are so self-absorbed that they fail to recognize the harm they’ve caused, and some may even be so self-important that they wouldn’t even care much about the harm they’ve done to others even if they did recognize it.

In any case, for folks who refuse to feel guilt or who won’t or are just too unaware to feel guilt, it may be hard to really understand the salvation given by God. Perhaps that’s why John’s baptism wasn’t just a baptism of forgiveness, but a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

With repentance, we first have to understand the harm we’ve done, actually care about those we’ve harmed. Then, we repent. We change our ways. We seek to make amends and bring healing where we can to those we’ve hurt. Repentance and then forgiveness of sins. That brings about healing and restoration. Repentance and forgiveness together are our way of life, the way of healing and love.

Unfortunately, it often feels like we’ve largely divorced repentance and God’s forgiveness from this life and made it all about avoiding punishment after this life. Then we’ve further made rules out of Jesus forgiveness. Don’t feel guilty about anything you’ve done in this life? No problem. Just believe in Jesus, and he’ll forgive you. Don’t believe in Jesus, but you seek to bring about healing through repentance and forgiveness? Well, too bad, since you don’t believe in Jesus, God is going to punish you anyway.

Here's the deal with Jesus and God’s forgiveness. Yes, God forgives us. Yes, we are given forgiveness through Jesus. Yes, we are assured of punishment for the wicked, and at the same time, yes, we get to rest secure in God’s love for us and God’s forgiveness of us. How do we fit God’s punishment of the wicked together with God’s forgiveness and love? We fit God’s punishment and God’s forgiveness and love together with trust and faith.

We trust in God’s punishment, because sometimes, when we don’t realize or don’t care about the people we’ve harmed, we need God’s punishment to give us a kick in the tail, and we need God’s forgiveness and love because that is where healing and reconnection happens. When we truly feel the weight of how we’ve harmed others, and we repent and seek amendment, we feel the release and healing of forgiveness, we have salvation here on earth.

God will one day restore all things, restoring this world so that there will be no more Hell on Earth; there will be no more of us harming one another and disconnecting from one another. One day we will all be restored, God will wipe away every tear from every eye, and we will live fully in the peace and love of restoration with God and one another.

In the mean time, God’s forgiveness and love gets to be lived. We get to live the gift of forgiveness choosing and working to release anger and hurt, to release the debt that is owed, and let forgiveness rule in our hearts. As we do, we know salvation.

God's Kingdom on Earth, Bound to the Cycles of Nature

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston

December 1, 2024
1 Advent, C
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Psalm 25:1-9
Luke 21:25-36

We are currently smack dab in the middle of the dead time of the year. The nights are getting longer, and they have been for some time. With the longer nights, we’ve got less and less light each day. It’s the season of darkness and death. Now, in 21 days, it’ll be December 22, and that is the day of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. After that night, the days start getting longer, the nights get shorter, the light returns, and while we’re still in this season of winter, this season of death, there’s this rebirth of life with the solstice and the light returning to the world. 

A couple thousand years ago, the winter solstice was on December 25, and that’s why that date was chosen as the day we celebrate Christmas. We celebrate the light of Jesus coming into the world on the day when the days get longer and light returns to the world. 

Every year this happens, a season of death, followed by the return of the light, leading to the season of rebirth and new life. That new life and rebirth is what Jesus was talking about when he said, “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.” 

When the fig tree sprouts leaves, the fruit will be coming soon. New life, rebirth. Few of us farm or have a whole lot of knowledge about plants nowadays, so we could say, once the playoffs start, we know a new champion will be crowned soon. Of course, after the new champion, you get the dead season without baseball, football, basketball, or whichever sport you like. Then there’s spring training, the pre-season, and the whole thing starts over again. 

Whether the cycles of the sun and moon, the cycles of plants and nature, or even the cycles of sports teams, there’s a season of life, of death, of rebirth, and of new life. These cycles and seasons continue over and over, every year. Jesus was fully aware of this cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth when he told his followers that the kingdom of God would come like figs on a tree. 

God’s kingdom comes, God’s kingdom fades, and God’s kingdom comes again. Throughout the church, throughout our lives, throughout scripture, we see God’s kingdom coming and being lived for a time, and then we see God’s kingdom fade, not because God leaves, but because here on this earth with the cycles of nature in which we live, God’s kingdom is bound to the same cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. 

God’s full kingdom is beyond our physical world, beyond death and decay, and eventually, God’s kingdom will come fully and for all time. In the meantime, God’s kingdom comes over and over, joining with us in the cycles of our physical lives, and so God’s kingdom in our lives now lasts for a time, fades, and returns. 

How long till God’s kingdom is fully established and there will be no more cycles of death and life, but only life forevermore? No one knows. The writers of the Gospels and the writers of the letters of our scriptures, including Paul, seemed to think God’s kingdom would be fully established pretty quickly. They seemed to think Jesus would come again with the clouds within a few years. 

They were wrong, that’s ok. Look at the prayers they prayed, believing Jesus’ return was imminent. 

“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.” That was Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonian churches. May y’all abound in love for one another and for all, “and may [God] so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”

Would that that was our prayer for one another every day. May God increase in us love for one another and for all, and may God strengthen us all that we will be holy and blameless before God.

When Paul prayed that, he was planting seeds of prayer for those churches he had started. The cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth was happening in the Thessalonian churches even as Paul wrote his letter, and so rather than wait for the death of God’s kingdom within their churches, Paul was praying for new life within them. Paul was planting seeds of new life even before the old life had begun to decay. May God strengthen you all to be holy and blameless.

Now, we know we’re not going to be completely blameless before God. Paul knew the folks in the Thessalonian churches weren’t going to be completely blameless. Actual blamelessness before God was never the point. Strengthening in love, that was the point. God’s strength working in us that we may be holy, meaning that we may choose not the ways of hatred and violence we so often see and celebrate in the world, but that we would choose instead the ways of love, forgiveness, and self-sacrifice.

Paul’s prayer was that as the Spirit and kingdom of God began to decay within the church, new seeds would take root and new love, forgiveness, and self-sacrifice would grow in their place. 

Even with the new life and new seeds prayed into people’s lives, there is going to be death, and there is going to be waiting till the new life begins to bud. Such is the nature of all created things. So, part of the prayer for us is also a prayer for patience. 

With our patience and waiting, we have work to do. Like in the off season of sports, like working the ground and caring for plants during the winter, there is work we get to do as we wait for God’s kingdom to be reborn. Our work is to persevere, to build each other up in love. Our work is to comfort one another when discouraged or sorrowful, to encourage one another in faith and life. Our work is to pray without ceasing.

We pray that we will not lose heart as we wait for Jesus to come again. We pray that we will wait with patience for God’s kingdom. We pray that we will increase and abound in love for one another throughout the seasons of our lives. As God’s kingdom grows within us, as there is a fading of God’s kingdom within us, and as there is a rebirth of God’s kingdom within us, we pray always for love to rule in our hearts. 

He's Not the One We're Fighting For

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets, Houston
November 24, 2024
Christ the King (Proper 29)
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Psalm 93
John 18:33-37

So, in the HBO television series, A Game of Thrones, and in the books from which the TV show came, all of the kings of all the different nations pretty much had one thing in common. They all wanted more land, to feel more powerful and more secure, and they were all more than happy to sacrifice the lives of countless other people to get them than land. Hundreds of thousands of people marching off to war to die on some battlefield so their king could have more.

Currently, in real life, we have Vladimir Putin in Russia doing the same thing. Hundreds of thousands of Russian troops have died so that Vladimir Putin could get more land and feel more powerful and secure. Just like the kings of fiction and kings throughout history, hundreds of thousands of people are marching off to war to die on some battlefield so their king can have more. By whatever name they are called, the kings and rulers of nations (including our own) throughout the world and throughout history have sent others to die for their cause.

That’s kinda what kings tend to do.

So, when Jesus said, “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Judeans,” he really meant it. If I were a king like you, Jesus was saying to Pilate, then I would have commanded my troops to come and die for me, just like you would. I would have hundreds of thousands be slaughtered in battle just so that I could get my way, if were a king like you, Pilate, if my kingdom were of this world, but as it is, “my kingdom is not from this world.”

Jesus isn’t a king like earthly kings and rulers. Rather than send other people to die for his cause, Jesus chose to die himself for our cause: the cause of love, of unity with God and unity with each other.

Jesus didn’t want his followers to take up weapons to fight for him 2000 years ago. He didn’t want his followers to take up weapons to fight for him during the crusades. Jesus didn’t want his followers to take up weapons and kill native Americans who wouldn’t convert to Christianity. Now, in this world and in this time, Jesus still doesn’t want his followers to take up weapons to fight for him. That just ain’t the kind of king Jesus is, because Jesus’ kingdom ain’t of this world.

See, kingdoms of this world are small and limited. Kingdoms of this world can only reach as far as people are willing to fight and kill for them. If a king claims land or some territory as his own, but there’s no one there to force people to serve the king, then it really isn’t the king’s territory, is it? Kingdoms of this world are defined by territory and ruled by force, by people willing to kill and die so the king can keep his land.

That goes from Russia invading Ukraine to businesses fighting for greater market share, to one gang trying to take territory from another. Heck, even churches fight one another over people and power, each trying to get more people and more money so their community and version of the Gospel can win over others’. We don’t tend to kill each other in the church over fights for land and people, but we have in the past.

Small and limited kingdoms fighting each other over territory, whether land, people, money, or power, kingdoms of this world use various kinds of violence to force their way in the world.

Jesus’ kingdom is a bit different, because Jesus’ kingdom is neither defined by territory nor ruled by force.

Jesus’ kingdom can be anywhere and everywhere, and Jesus’ kingdom is both defined by and ruled by love. “To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.” We serve Jesus by loving one another. As we’re told in Matthew 25, we don’t need to know it is Jesus we are serving. We don’t even need to believe in Jesus to serve him. In Matthew 25, people are thanked and welcomed into God’s kingdom for the ways they served Jesus, and they respond that they’ve never Jesus before, that they have no idea who he is. He tells them that whatever love and care they have shown for anyone, they’ve given that love and care for him. In Jesus’ kingdom, we serve Jesus by loving one another.

“His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.” Jesus’ kingdom isn’t dependent upon territory or anything that can be taken by force or destroyed. Jesus’ kingship cannot be destroyed because Jesus’ kingship is over all of creation, and his kingdom dwells within us.

We don’t always see Jesus’ kingdom. We don’t always live Jesus’ kingdom. It breaks in here and there, now and then, and we see and live in the love and Spirit of Jesus’ kingdom for a time. Eventually, Jesus’ kingdom will exist fully, everywhere, in every heart, as eventually, Jesus will wipe every tear from every eye, all violence and anger will be ended, and even death will be destroyed. We will all live fully in the life and love of Jesus’ kingdom.

Until that time, we get glimpses here and there, now and then, and we strive to live the love and peace of Jesus’ kingdom.

As followers of Jesus, that’s the idea and the ideal. We’ll all be peaceful, harming no others, fighting in no wars. That would be lovely, and Jesus knows that’s not going to happen until the end of the ages. Our nations will continue to fight one another for territory and security. We’ll continue to hurt one another and fight one another over territory and security.

That’s not what Jesus wants for us, but that’s what’s going to keep happening. Jesus knows that these wars, big and small, are going to continue. Even as we live at times in those glimpses of Jesus kingdom, we also still live in the kingdoms of the world, and sometimes, some of us will even be called to fight our nation’s wars. That’s the way of the world. It’s important to remember, however, that in all of these wars, big or small, whatever the cause, Jesus is not the one we’re fighting for, and Jesus is not the one asking us to fight.

That’s not what Jesus’ kingdom is like, asking us to fight and kill for him. Rather, as king of all the world, Jesus rules by giving us forgiveness for all of the wars we continue to fight. Rather than banish us from his kingdom when we end up fighting for the kingdoms of this world, Jesus seeks us out to bring us safely back home to his kingdom of love and peace. Unlike the kings of this world, Jesus doesn’t ask his followers to fight and die for him. Rather than send other people to die for his cause, Jesus chose to die himself for our cause: the cause of love, of unity with God and unity with each other. That’s the kind of king I can follow.

The Beautiful Sunset of Life in the Kingdom of God

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets, Houston
October 27, 2024
Proper 25, B
Jeremiah 31:7-9
Psalm 126
Mark 10:46-52

Anyone ever ask for help, only to be ignored by others? Anyone ever ask for help and been silenced by others, told to keep quiet and to stop being such a bother? Anyone ever been made to feel ashamed for asking for help? That was the story of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar who called out to Jesus. “Have mercy on me,” he cried. “Oh, do shut up!” The people responded.
 
The crowd had contempt for Bartimaeus. Maybe because he was blind, they thought he was a sinner? Maybe he smelled bad and looked weird? Maybe they just didn’t want to be bothered by that rather annoying blind guy who was constantly begging and therefore constantly reminding them that they had plenty to be able to help him and were too self-absorbed or too fearful to do so? Perhaps they wanted to protect Jesus from that same annoyance and mild guilt that they felt? “We’re here doing religiousy godly stuff with a religiousy godly guy, and you’re just wrecking it Bartimaeus; go away.”
 
Whatever the case, Jesus didn’t share the crowd’s contempt for the blind beggar, Bartimaeus. Instead, Jesus invited the crowd to be a part of Bartimaeus’ healing. “Call him here,” Jesus said to the crowd, giving them the chance to repent of the contempt they had toward Bartimaeus, speaking to him with invitation rather than pushing him away. So, the first healing Jesus gave Bartimaeus was to have him be one with the people around him again. Then, as one with the crowd, Bartimaeus came to Jesus, and Jesus spoke to him like a human being. He restored Bartimaeus’ sight, and Bartimaeus joined him on the way.
 
In that whole encounter, the kingdom of God was revealed.
 
We’ve been hearing Jesus’ preaching for weeks now about life in God’s kingdom. We heard Jesus tell a rich man that eternal life means loving God and loving people here in this life. We heard Jesus teach his disciples that serving others, not ruling over them, but serving others, is greatness in God’s kingdom. Love God and love people, and let everything else flow from there.
 
So, when Bartimaeus asked for healing, Jesus continued his teaching about eternal life and God’s kingdom by showing the people what love God and love people is like. Those in the crowd who saw themselves as above Bartimaeus were turned into Bartimaeus’ servants. Jesus sent them to give Bartimaeus the message that Jesus was calling for him. The crowd became like a servant in a household who would call to the master of the house, letting him know that someone had arrived.
 
Jesus let the people become servants, rather than the important people they saw themselves as, and by giving them that servant role, Jesus helped heal the crowd, letting them live the life of the kingdom of God. Love God and love people. Through love God and love people, Jesus gave Bartimaeus and the crowd the eternal life of love in God’s kingdom.
 
Now, I’m going to guess a couple things here. One, that eternal life of the kingdom of God sounds lovely; it sounds great to me, I’m guessing it sounds great to others. Two, I’m also guessing that, as lovely as it is, the image and feeling of the kingdom of God will quickly fade, and we’ll end up back with contempt, maybe contempt for those like Bartimaeus whom we see as beneath us, maybe contempt for the crowds who see us as beneath them.
 
Like the beauty of a sunset, we’re captivated and awed by the images of the

kingdom of God, and then like a sunset, the beauty fades, and we are brought into the dark of night.
 
Then, it is easy for us to have contempt, especially for the crowd. Forgetting the beauty of God’s kingdom, let’s face it, it’s fun to be right and righteous. Having contempt for the crowd feels right and righteous. Having contempt for those around us whom we see as the crowd feels right and righteous. Don’t they deserve our contempt?
 
I imagine Bartimaeus having contempt for the crowd. It does feel like they deserved it. He had been living the violence of looking out for me alone because of their indifference to him and their contempt of him. It was Bartimaeus against the world, or the world against Bartimaeus. His life was me against the world, a life of darkness and contempt. I imagine him being exhausted, drained of life.
 
The struggle of waking up to a world of darkness, not his blindness, but the darkness of him against everyone and everyone against him. That darkness drains the life from people. Me against the world saps us of our humanity. Struggle, fear, anger, with no one in your corner. Little or no trust. Little or no joy. That’s the life of me against the world, the darkness of night when the beauty of the kingdom of God fades.  
 
I can imagine Bartimaeus still having contempt for the crowd even once his sight was restored. He could have still felt that it was he against the world, but Jesus helped heal his heart of contempt before he healed his blindness. Bringing the crowd into Bartimaeus’ healing, allowing them to be Bartimaeus’ servants, Jesus allowed healing of contempt, restoring not just sight, but the beauty of that sunset of eternal life in the kingdom of God.
 
As a result, when his sight was restored, Bartimaeus followed Jesus on the way. They walked off into the sunset of the kingdom of God. The eternal life of the kingdom of God in this story of healing. Jesus healed the crowd. Then Jesus healed Bartimaeus, not primarily of blindness. Jesus healed Bartimaeus of isolation. He healed him of me against the world.
 
From the darkness of isolation and contempt, of violence and anger, Jesus brought both Bartimaeus and the crowd around him to the eternal life of love God and love people. From the dark of night, Jesus brought the crowd and Bartimaeus the beautiful, and healing sunset of life in the kingdom of God.

“Nope,” Jesus said. Rather than bring death, Jesus transformed death into life.

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets, Houston
October 20, 2024
Proper 24, B
Isaiah 53:4-12
Psalm 91:9-16
Mark 10:35-45

So, there’s an election coming up in a few weeks, and yes, I am encouraging you all to vote, and no, I’m not encouraging anyone to vote in any particular way. I’m bringing up the election because it is once again rather contentious, hotly contested, and there’s this feeling in the air of, “Holy Dear Lord Almighty Sweet Baby Jesus, if the right side doesn’t win, then the Kingdom of God will be destroyed, and Jesus will never return.”
 
That is, of course, not the case. Neither side winning is going to bring about the destruction of the Kingdom of God. The election may be important, but it ain’t that important. Not even the gates of Hell can prevail against the Kingdom of God, and the president and congress of the United States, as much power as they may wield, aren’t powerful enough to destroy or bring about God’s kingdom.
 
Our hope is not in whoever becomes president. As Jesus pointed out to his disciples in our Gospel lesson today, our hope is not in any human power or position. Our hope is in Jesus, in the unity with God and one another which Jesus has forged. The Word of God which spoke creation into existence became human, fully uniting humanity and divinity. God and humans are one, and nothing, not even a bad president can separate that unity.  
 
So, despite the terrible angst and seemingly large stakes of the upcoming election, our hope is in Jesus’ victory. His is the victory and power not of human governments, not of domination, or enforcing his will. Jesus’ victory is the power of service, surrender, and resurrection, transforming death into life.
 
That resurrection power of service and surrender is the power we live out when we live the life of the kingdom of God which Jesus taught us to live. In today’s Gospel reading, once again, Jesus taught us to wield resurrection power not through the might of ruling over others, but through loving and serving one another as we were created to do.  
 
When James and John sought great power from Jesus, he assured them that such power of ruling over others is not what makes us great in the kingdom of God. They wanted to sit one on his right hand and one on his left, and they weren’t thinking of life after this up in heaven. That idea was kind of a concept in Jesus’ day, but not the dogma we have now. The thought of, “Let me serve with you after I’ve died,” was almost certainly not in their brains.

No, James and John wanted earthly power to rule with Jesus as his co-world-dominating vice-presidents. They wanted power and might over other human beings, and that is simply not the way of the kingdom of God.
 
“You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you;” Jesus taught, “but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant.” That sounds a lot like Eden, being one another’s companions and helpers.  
That teaching that those who wish to be great must be servants in God’s kingdom is pretty darn similar to the teaching we heard last week with the man who had great wealth. Remember, he wanted to make sure that he had the best of everything in this world and this life, and also to make sure that he had the best of everything in the life to come. “Sure, Jesus, I care about others and hear you teaching that I can use my vast wealth to serve others and to make sure they have enough as well, but I really love my stuff more than I do other people.” He wanted an “all about me” salvation, making sure that he was going to be ok, and not thinking too much about the well-being of anyone else. That’s not salvation; it’s just selfishness.
 
Remember the man in the parable Jesus told who used his great wealth to make sure everyone who worked for him, had a living wage. He even went searching for more folks to work for him, even if only for an hour, to make sure that they had a living wage too. That’s greatness in God’s kingdom, using wealth as a servant, not as one to be served.
 
Greatness in God’s kingdom comes from using what God has given us for the benefit of others, not for ourselves to get even more, and greatness in God’s kingdom does not come by forcing the world to be how we want it to be. Even when we’re right, it’s not our world to force our will upon. Even if we’re right, forcing our will on others is being a tyrant, and Jesus expressly taught against being a tyrant. The world is not any of ours to rule, not even by proxy, electing the folks we think are the right ones to be in office. God’s kingdom and our hope do not come from us or through elected proxies on our behalf. No, our hope and God’s kingdom come from Jesus, from the unity with God that he gave and through the resurrection life that he continually gives.
 
Even so, a lot of us are going to be mightily disappointed the day after the election. Some will be angry. Some may be legitimately afraid because of who gets elected, and some will be afraid probably not so legitimately. Fear, anger, and angst are very human and understandable reactions to the changes and chances of this life. Reacting out of our fear, anger, and angst, are also understandable, and, those fearful and angry reactions go against the kingdom of God. Those fearful and angry reactions come from feelings of powerlessness, wanting power over a world that is not in our control.
 
That is the power that James and John wanted, and Jesus told them, “No.” That power is not the way of God’s kingdom.
 
Jesus teaches us instead to accept our powerlessness, just like he did before Pontius

Pilate. “I have the power to kill you or to save your life,” Pilate said. “Nope,” Jesus said. “I could command hosts of angels to save me and destroy you all, but I’m not going to do that.” Jesus could have brought death to thousands and saved his own life.  Instead, Jesus accepted the seeming power that Pilate held over him, and because of that, rather than just bring more death, Jesus transformed death into life.
 
So, what are we to do then with our fear, and anger, and feelings of powerlessness? Once again, we follow Jesus’ example and teaching. We give our fear and anger over to God. We ask God for the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We act out of the fruit of the Spirit, rather than the burning fire of our anger and fear. Let by the fruit of the Spirit, we can call and write our political leaders to let them know of our fear and anger. They probably won’t care, but we can.
 
We can let go our fear and anger, accept our powerlessness, and choose to love and serve one another because that is who and how we were made to be. Loving and serving one another is how we live the eternal life of God. Loving and serving one another is how we live the life of God’s kingdom.
 
Our hope is in Jesus, and our hope is in the resurrection life of service and surrender, loving one another, even loving our enemies, so that all things, even death itself, are transformed into life.