SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2022 | AFTER PENTECOST - Proper 8 (C)

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 Then they went on to another village.

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Revised Common Lectionary (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2009).

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Good morning,

The summer is here! Well, more or less, the weather still seems to be deciding a bit. And I hope you're all staying cool in this heat wave. It’s been a whirlwind of a week - the good news has been that Safer Communities Act has passed, a bill that “takes steps to restrict gun access for the youngest buyers, domestic violence offenders and others who could pose a risk to their communities” and has been signed into law. This is significant because for so long nothing has changed. This is the first legislation to be signed in 30 years. (https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/24/congress-passes-gun-bill-sends-it-to-joe-biden-to-sign.html ).

It is a good start and hopefully the struggle for gun legislation will continue. But of course, it’s not the only thing that happened this week - the Supreme Court struck down a New York gun bill that requires a person to “demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry one in public.” (https://abc7ny.com/supreme-court-gun-case-guns-rights-concealed-carry/11990123/) This will likely lead to a challenge of similar laws in California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, AND here in New Jersey. I spoke on it before, I think revoking gun laws is totally irresponsible and I truly wish that was the only thing the supreme court struck down this week.

We saw it coming, yet it doesn’t sting any less - the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which is such a blow to so many years of progress towards respecting women, their rights, and the choices they make in their life. A dark shadow of fear has fallen over the U. S., one that has nothing to do with the God I profess and worship. Today’s text talks a lot about commitment and faith.

The Samaritans are committed to their interpretation of faith, where Mount Gerizim near Shechem replaced Jerusalem and thus they do not want to receive Jesus, who recognizes the centrality of Jerusalem at the time.

As for the apostles James and John, they probably still had remnants of their past exclusionary religious understandings in them and thus they viewed it as appropriate to ask whether they should ask God to punish the Samaritans for their unwillingness to receive Jesus. Many Christians, sure they are being faithful, fought for a long time to criminalize abortion. They were feeling sure that punishment is the best way to end abortion. Studies show that making abortions illegal does not reduce the frequency, only the safety and cost.

I think most of us can agree that we want to live in a world where abortions are not needed anymore, but there is a lot of work that has to happen first - science-based and up to date sex education at home and at school, equitable and shame-free access to contraceptives for everyone, addressing rape on the side of the perpetrator, not the victim, making reproductive healthcare affordable and easily accessible…and so much more. And even then, there will still be times when an abortion is the right choice, medically, ethically, and personally because our world is complex and not an easy black and white situation. Access to safe and legal abortion is essential. The life and safety of the patient should be the first priority of a doctor, now in many states they have to choose how to talk to their patients when something that can be a life saving necessary intervention is criminalized. What the Supreme Court has done negatively impacts the most vulnerable and marginalized and undermines essential human rights.

Back in the text, Jesus actually meets people that want to follow him as their teacher, but let’s just say they had some conditions to join and Jesus wasn’t really stoked about that. He wanted them to go all in and follow up on their commitment. It is one of the reasons I went to a “Bans Off Our Bodies” protest in Newark yesterday with Christine - I am trying to be all in on the kingdom of God and the ideals it entails. I am sure there were many white male pastors at the celebratory rallies such as the one in Trenton yesterday and I just couldn’t stand by, and allow them to define what Christian leaders are for and against.

We arrived at the protest early to find only 5 or so people there. Turns out, the protest was organized by a young Newark woman and her sister, ,no bullhorn or podium, no real plan, but we made it work. Slowly more and more people trickled in, people walking by joining the group. Someone came with a bluetooth speaker, and someone else with a box full of chalk– People began to write on the city hall steps so our message would stay after our gathering. At the end of an hour the steps were filled - it was clear that nobody was expecting miracles to happen, but everybody just wanted to express the desire to keep moving forward on reproductive rights that are human rights, rather than back as a powerful minority is trying to force on us with their skewed so called “Christian values”. Roe v. Wade was far from perfect, but so far it prevented so much further harm, as it upheld a basic dignity of a woman and her right to make her own decisions. And I think that a part of our commitment to the kingdom of God is a commitment to uphold human dignity of all people, no exceptions.

I think Jesus means that this commitment to the kingdom of God is not a part-time thing, it is very much a full-time, 24/7 thing. You want to follow..then you have to REALLY follow. And hey, it is not going to be easy as we are on the road and only have one another. At the time, they did not have a central base and their mission and travel budget was probably very low,’ just like the protest in Newark was a spur of the moment no budget endeavor to show up, invite others, and have our voices heard for a good cause.

And I think that the question of commitment to our faith is an important one - it is one thing to say you belong to a religion that worships a loving and caring God and the other one is to be committed to it. It is like saying “I love you” and then not really, well…but then never following up on it with your actions.

Jesus points out that to follow him marks a departure of things as they are. We are all called to think beyond ourselves and live into the love that makes us one, distinct and yet united, where people are not singled out, oppressed, marginalized, hurt, or killed just because they are different from us or we disagree with them. God lovingly created everything, then entered this creation as Jesus to show us the love that God has for us and the love we ought to have for ourselves and each other in the life and ministry of Jesus and then his sacrifice on the cross, the unjust death that shows us the ultimate commitment of God to us and the whole of creation.

And this same God then sends the Holy Spirit, so that we keep this love and care alive among us and stop hurting ourselves and each other for the false promises of the devil such as power, influence, or wealth.

God gave us the miracle of life through our reproductive facilities, but I believe that God does not want us to be forcing others to participate in it against their will. Rather, I believe that God wants us to be kind to each other and listen to each other as we try to navigate our lives and the choices we make the best we can at the moment. We can and should support each other in making good choices, but just because we think we know what the right choices are does not mean we get to decide what choices others can make about themselves and their bodies. God calls us to love and care for each other, not to dominate and control. Amen.

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