I hardly ever go the movies, but I’m so glad on this extremely hot Saturday I ventured off on my own to the Amherst Cinema to see “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” It’s the story of Fred Rogers, aka “Mr. Rogers.” If you want to be uplifted, if you want to be challenged, if you want to see what really living the gospel is rather than only preaching it with words, then find the time to see this movie. This is not a movie for children. This is a story for adults. The tone of our world has become extremely mean-spirited. Thank God for people like Mr. Rogers. There are too many things to talk about in this movie, so I’m only going to offer one insight that I gathered. I’ve often spoken about how Jesus continued on to Jerusalem at the end of His ministry even though everyone around Him seemed unable to grasp His message. He went forward anyway because it was in Him to do this. I could never find a suitable example to convey this struggle and this determination. I saw it in Mr. Rogers. I saw it in his battle against the violence and hatred marketed to children. I saw it in his embrace of unequivocal, unconditional love. As strange as Mr. Rogers may seem to some, I think he gets what Christianity is all about.
This was a saint among us. Like I said, if you have the chance, catch this movie Rev. Randy
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“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Ps 19:14) Less than a year ago, I lived off of Sugarloaf Street in South Deerfield. While living there, talk began about building a bunch of condominiums on the other side of Sugarloaf Street, on farmland that sat at the base of Mount Sugarloaf. The ones who were opposed to this building-project gathered around the slogan of SOS, which stood for “Save our Sugarloaf.” Well, they didn’t succeed, and those condos are now being built. That’s why I was surprised to be driving down Rts 5 & 10 through Whately the other day when another SOS sign caught my eye. I thought it was strange since it was in a different town and was up after the fact. Then I paid a bit closer attention to the SOS sign. It had nothing to do with the South Deerfield condos and Save our Sugarloaf. SOS in Whately stood for “Save our Strip Club.” I know that none of you here at Hatfield Congregational Church have any notion whatsoever of a strip club in Whately, but just as an FYI, there is one there. Some of the locals call it the Whately Ballet for obvious reasons. And to add to the lore of the Whately Ballet, it’s located on Christian Lane of all streets. I don’t know who it is that has the new SOS sign out in front of their house, but whoever it is they sure are worried about losing their strip club. I guess we all have to choose what’s worth the fight. I bring this up as a light-hearted way to talk about the darker side of the battles we choose to fight, and I bring this up in the context of this morning’s Gospel. In the middle of July when our church schedule is a bit relaxed, when we’re a bit relaxed, it seems out of season to be talking about something as morbid as the beheading-execution of John the Baptist. King Herod was a ruthless tyrant, but John the Baptist stood up to him anyway. He called him out even though he had to know the costs. In addition to the violence of this story, there’s also the sordid nature of this King Herod episode. Not unlike the Whately Ballet, Herod’s step-daughter danced for this old man at his birthday party and greatly pleased him to the point that he promised her anything she wanted. She came to ask for the head of John the Baptist, and that it be presented to her on a platter at this public birthday banquet. These are boorish people to say the least, and John knew this, but for him this was worth the fight. This story is important in Jesus’ story too. Next week as we continue reading through Mark we’re going to skip over the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000. But there’s more to that story than first meets the eye. It’s easy to miss, but there are military overtones to that story, and you can read it for yourselves in Mark 6. The 5,000 are staged in groups of hundreds and fifties, reminiscent of military units, and Mark concludes by telling us that all of the 5,000 were men. Is there the possibility here that these 5,000 men were ready to accept Jesus as the Messiah, but as the long-expected Messiah, the Messiah who would pick up arms and fight to liberate Israel and overthrow the Roman Empire? Were they ready to start a holy war? Does Jesus sense this and is this why Jesus sends His disciples immediately away in a boat, by themselves? He’ll catch up with them later. He just wants to get them out of there before they get caught up in this holy war fervor. This miracle story overlaid with the possibility of holy war follows right after the story of the beheading of John the Baptist who dared to challenge King Herod. Now Jesus turns away from fighting with soldiers and weapons against everything Herod represents, but there are other ways to fight. The link is clear between the gory execution of John the Baptist and what Jesus will attempt by ushering in another kingdom, the kingdom of God. If Jesus is to continue with His ministry, if He’s going to continue to fight His battle even if without weapons or soldiers, the message is clear that His life will be in as much danger as was John’s. Jesus realizes this and yet continues. It was worth the fight. Jesus’ commitment to His gospel, Jesus’ commitment to us, is all-consuming. Not even the threat of death, even execution, is too high a price to pay. Jesus chooses His battle knowing full well the cost, and still He does not retreat. We mean more to Christ than even His own life. That’s a pretty heavy message for mid-July and the mid-summer doldrums in church, but maybe it can awaken us to think about what’s worthy of our battles. If people can put out signs to save their strip clubs, then we as Christians must choose our battles and be ready to stand up for what we believe. Matt read for us earlier from the Epistle to the Ephesians and there’s an important line in there that says ever since creation God has planned, in the words of the Bible, “to gather up all things in [Christ].”
Through the ages, Christian thinkers have heard in this passage that just as God created everything and everyone, so has God saved everything and everyone through Jesus Christ. Do you see how huge our field of battle is? We obviously can’t do everything, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do something. We have to choose our battles. This is why the work of the Benevolence Committee that meets after Service next Sunday is so important. Its work is part of our front line. It’s trying to help others as close as the elementary school just behind us and people in poverty and need across the globe. Maybe think about joining Benevolence or making a donation. I’ll tell you what this church does very well. You support your community. I was at Town Hall a couple of weeks ago and a long-time resident and very active person had nothing but praise for the way this church has always been willing to help the town however we can, whenever we can. And I’ll mention too that I am impressed with the way you take care of each other. You call, you visit, you cook, you give me a heads-up to check in on someone. All of that is important as we fight our battles to make this a better world. So I know it’s the summer doldrums, but today’s Gospel makes absolutely clear how important our work is as Christians. Jesus sacrificed everything for this work, and as we heard in Ephesians everything and everyone matters to Him. We have to keep up the battle of our faith even now in the summer. Again, if people can fight for strip clubs, we have to fight for Christ even in summer. In His name we pray. Amen. ![]()
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Ps 19:14) Later this week we will celebrate the Fourth of July for the 242nd time. I once laid eyes on the actual Declaration of Independence. It was at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. It was impressive to be that close to a document that world changing. When Thomas Jefferson drafted this document, he was up-ending the status quo. He was offering a vision that would change the world, and he began by justifying this revolution by referring to “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” He was throwing out the old arguments that claimed some people were superior to others and that nature and nature’s God demanded that there be rulers and the ruled, that there be a select few people whose thoughts, actions and lives meant more than the mob of the ordinary. In committee, some of Jefferson’s original thoughts were toned down a bit. I think we’re all familiar with the phrase “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” but Jefferson had written originally: “from that equal creation they derive rights, inherent and inalienable.” He had first written that our fundamental human rights are “inherent” because of our equality! These newly formed United States were talking about revolution, not only with weapons and war, but with minds. Equality up until 1776 was only a philosopher’s dream. July 4th made it real. We didn’t and we don’t always live up to our July Fourth ideal of equality, but it’s there. We had to go through a lot of bumps and bruises, and more occasions of “how the mighty have fallen” for the sake of equality. We had to fight a Civil War for equality. Women had to protest for equality. And today there is less equality than in years past because the country is being divided into rich and poor, powerful and powerless. That’s just a fact of the numbers. The wealth divide has increased among us and is not slowing down. And wealth seems to grant voice. I think in this context of still fighting for equality we should reconsider today’s Gospel reading. A man of power and voice begs Jesus to heal his daughter. Jesus is not opposed to this man because of his status of power any more than Jesus would be opposed to someone else because of their status as powerless. With the crowd pushing and tugging and bumping into each other, somehow a sickly woman gets close enough to Jesus to reach out touch the hem of His clothing. She believes that even this act can heal her. And it does! Jesus feels that something has happened and stops in His tracks. He searches the crowd for the one who has been healed. Finally, the terrified woman comes forward with her story. She is one of the powerless and voiceless. She was scared by what she had done. Jesus was on the way to the home of a powerful man and she had stopped Him in His tracks. Surely words would follow. Instead, Jesus commends her for her faith. In other words, Jesus doesn’t belong to the rich and powerful, nor does Jesus belong to the poor and outcast. Jesus is God’s living statement of equality. We all matter to God. We are all “endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable rights.”
Long before the Declaration of Independence, Jesus was setting an example of equality. On the Fourth of July we can celebrate the fact that we listened to His gospel and that we defined ourselves by that same virtue of equality. But anniversaries, even the 242nd of them, calls us to not only celebrate, but to remember and to reaffirm. Equality, said Jefferson, and says the Declaration, is not granted by governments to the ones it governs. Equality is granted by God to all people. It is inherent. It is inalienable. It’s a part of us and it’s something that can’t be separated from us without making us less than fully human. It took us 87 anniversaries of July 4th to realize that African slaves were really African-Americans, and that battle for equality still continues. It took us 144 anniversaries to realize that women are part of “all men are created equal” so that they could finally vote, but again, that battle for equality still continues as well. And since we profess in the Declaration of Independence that equality is from God, then equality is not defined by being an American. Equality belongs to everyone, says Jesus in today’s Gospel and so too says the Declaration of Independence. With this in mind, whatever our stance on immigration, we need to keep in mind this fundamental equality that we profess as Christians and as Americans. Whatever our stance on immigration, there is no room for a mean-spiritedness towards others in this discussion, especially toward the powerless and the voiceless. Compassion is called for because we believe as Christians and Americans that all are created equal. As we get ready to celebrate the Fourth of July, let us also remind ourselves why we celebrate. It’s not only about our independence. It’s about that revolutionary idea of inherent, inalienable, universal human equality. And in that spirit, let us now prepare to approach the Communion Table where all are welcome as equal in the sight of our Saviour. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/06/15/what-jeff-sessions-got-wrong-when-quoting-the-bible |
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