Sermon 11/18/2018

Readings:  Daniel 12:1-3; Psalm 16; Hebrews 10:11-25; Mark 13:1-8


I went to the 181st Convention of the Diocese of Indianapolis hoping for inspiration, education, opportunity and both the strengthening of and creation of relationships this weekend. I was not disappointed. I hope your delegates, Margy and Cecelia, feel the same.
I went there having spent little time studying or reflecting on today’s lessons.  I had spent enough time to know that these lessons are not the most uplifting and can illicit some frightening images.  So I really hoped that something we would experience would influence what I would talk with you about today.
The lessons today tell us a lot about how humans respond to natural disasters and war.  Especially in Biblical times, just the thought of flood or fire or earthquake or drought or war could make an individual think the world was coming to an end.
We aren’t immune to any of these natural disasters today, either.  If you are like me, you know of someone or someone who knows someone who has been affected by the fires in California in these past couple of weeks.  Maybe you have a loved one who has been in the path of one of the hurricanes of recent months.  And these events can sure seem to be signs that the world is coming to an end! 
Being in a landlocked state, we may think we have no reason to fear natural disasters like those, but I remember the first summer we lived here and the tornadoes that ripped through the state and the flooding that came with the abundant rain and that ice storm that left motorists stranded on the highway for hours.
We certainly have experience with weather, and we learn when to be afraid, how to be prepared for catastrophe or power outages, we learn when to take cover or when to flee danger.
And even if we know that dangerous weather does not mark the beginning of the end of time or know that this is not some form of punishment from God, there are other times, like now, when those fires in California can make us sit up and take notice.
Maybe we should pay attention.  Maybe we need to think more about our own responsibility and complicity in the depth of the destruction that has been experienced during hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and fires.  Perhaps we should reconsider where we live and how we build and how we take care of creation to learn more about why the earth seems to be crying out.
Jesus calls times like these moments of birthing.  He said that times like these, with threats of war, natural disasters and that being led astray from God are the beginnings of the birth pangs.
These are the beginnings of life-giving change. 
        I’m sure most of you know that as devastating as a forest fire can be, fire is needed for some plants to thrive.  There are pinecones that are so tightly sealed shut by natural resins that only a fire can melt the resin to expose the seeds within.  Having laid dormant for many years, these seed will only sprout after a fire.
        I don’t know if many of you know that there are also other seeds that cannot germinate unless they burn.[1]  The seeds of some varieties of shrubs have such a tough coating that only a fire will break them open.
        Flooding is good for farm land because it provides nutrients that may have been lacking in the soil; while the winds from a hurricane can distribute topsoil more evenly; and a volcano will provide nutrients to the soil, may bring precious gemstones to the surface and release chemicals into the air that help the water cycle.[2]
        Even war has some unique benefits, like bringing survivors together and seeing them become more engaged in civil and political activities.  There are studies that have learned survivors of war can be found to be more cooperative and more willing to help their neighbor.[3]
        While we may fear natural disasters and war, we may mourn what is lost or we might worry about what is potentially lost, these tragedies, these birth pangs, are necessary for new birth.
        And new birth is often messy and painful and something that will change the world as we know it.
        So I was at convention, hoping to find some insight into these lessons and what I heard Saturday morning, in our Bishop’s address were these words: “We will not retreat in fear.”
        Ah.  In the midst of change it is sometimes so much easier to hide or run away or dismiss it so that we don’t have to admit that we are afraid of change.
        Bishop Jennifer is challenging us to take a risk and to change.
        Now, we’ve been doing a lot of soul searching and listening to God and discerning who we are which is resulting in making changes within our faith community.  But what about taking it a step, or many steps, further and being willing to change ourselves so that we are equipped to walk out into the world to share the peace of Christ to our neighbors?
        The keynote speaker, Dwight Zscheile, from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota (yes, he was one of my professors) challenged us to do just that.  Go outside of the convention center in pairs and see what we could learn about the neighborhood directly surrounding where we were.  We were instructed to take photos that tell the story of Bloomington, Indiana, so that we could learn more about who our neighbors are and how we can be their neighbors.
        This exercise was designed to help us dwell in the Word, to dwell in the world, as Christians walking the Way of Jesus.
        There was a lot to see in that part of Bloomington, as we learned when we looked at one another’s photos. 


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I saw the transit station,
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the police station
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the public library.
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I also saw a variety of
international restaurants,
abandoned sleeping bags and blankets, graffiti and art.  There were two women pushing strollers that held four kids each and I made faces at the children.  Drivers honked their horns at one another, ambulances whisked by with their sirens blowing and lights flashing.  Scooters were available on every street.  There were construction sites and day cares and people smiling and people deep within their own thoughts.
        And there was Holy Peace amongst all the sounds and lights and sights and smells.
        In so many ways we see the scary and the dangerous and we become afraid, but our Gospel and our Bishop reminded me that there is more to it than that. 
        We live in constant change.  There are always birth pangs to be felt.  Risks to take.  Uncertainties.
        AND there is also a vibrant, hopeful, bold life around us like I witnessed on a 20-minute walk around Bloomington on a Friday afternoon. 
        It would be sad to see one and not the other.  To remain in the comfortable, life-sustaining womb, and not be birthed into the beautiful, risky unknown.
        Bishop Jennifer reminded us, challenged us, emboldened us with these words: “So hear me clearly.  We will not retreat in fear. Instead, we will move forward with a bold witness and a radical welcome to share the loving, liberating, and life-giving ways of Jesus.”
        Yes, Bishop, I believe we will.  With God’s abiding love for all of creation, for each of us, with God’s help, yes, we will.

Amen.

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