From Sanctuary to Streets: The Struggle for Faithful Balance

Me: Orientation

Last winter, I was helping someone prepare for a crucial job interview.

They needed help refining their answers, structuring responses, and anticipating tricky questions.

It was important to help them practice their delivery, build their confidence, and weave their experience into a compelling narrative.

At the same time, my friend needed help…

I could dash over to the University of Buffalo Distinguished Speakers Series to hear human rights activist Nadia Murad.

Murad was scheduled to talk about how she survived the genocide carried out by ISIS in 2014, during which she was abducted from her village in Iraq.

Her justice work in reducing human trafficking coincides nicely with my passion and work on a recent grant project.

I was feeling the tension between these two needs.

One was engaging in acts of mercy, where I was helping someone improve their chances of employment.

The other was engaging in acts of piety, where I increased my knowledge about the plight of human trafficking in our community.

Have you ever had one of those moments where two wildly different priorities crash into your schedule at once? How did you handle it?

We: Identification

Certainly, we can recall those church committee meetings where we debated whether it was more important to spend money on new banners for the sanctuary or our clothing program…

Perhaps it was that moment when you needed to choose between taking your parent to an important doctor’s appointment or catching your kid’s soccer game.

It could be that time you wanted to help in the food pantry but needed to study for that upcoming exam.

When we are torn between two competing priorities, what does Jesus have to teach us…

God: Illumination (Amos 8:1-12)

We had a favorite restaurant in Medina that we frequented throughout the year...

But in the summertime, there was this salad… Watermelon with a bed of arugula on top of it...

...fried goat cheese balls mixed in...

...walnuts, a couple of slices of strawberries…

It was a bowl of summer delight…

The prophet Amos paints this vision of a beautiful basket of summer fruit and quickly parallels it with corpses and silence.

Amos did not mince words…

But you see, he was caught up in a world that was all-consuming by consumeristic greed.

Where the prosperous became more prosperous by oppressing the poor.

They developed a routine, steeped in capitalism, that is taking advantage of others…

A system and tax code built around keeping the poor and making the rich richer.

In the text, Amos describes a class of merchants who can’t wait until the Sabbath is over because they want to immediately get back to exploiting the poor.

So Amos has to use strong imagery to break this grind—this all-consuming world of capitalism they are stuck in.

This imagery of summer fruit and abundant goodness…

this delightful watermelon,

this abundance that God so desires for us...

Contrasted with corpses and silence…

…we see death in the hearts, Amos prophesies too…

...where love of God and neighbor no longer exist

All because capitalism, making money, living the daily grind, has taken over...

You: Application (Amos 8:1-12)

“Hypocrites,” they are called.

Not to condemn but to awaken.

The prophet reminds us that worship should not be boxed into a compartment, limited only to Sunday worship.

That the Word of God, the teachings of Jesus, and the illumination of the Holy Spirit are to be experienced!

Every single day of the week...

Every single hour of the day...

Every single second of the hour...

Some compartmentalize their worship versus their livelihood...

Perhaps they are devoted to God one day a week because they were born into this identity...

Perhaps it is a cultural expectation to attend church weekly...

Perhaps it is a form of networking to increase their business prospects...

Amos holds up a mirror...

...not to shame, but to call us back to truth.

These hypocrites want to rush past all the religious rituals and observances and back into the grind...

God seeks justice for those who are being exploited...

But more than ever, God wants all people—hypocrites and those exploited…

…to experience abundant life by bringing their whole self to the table.

This table that God has set for us is one of inclusivity…

It’s a place where we are invited to experience the love of God...

A place, set with grace and abundant love...

A place where we open ourselves up to transformation...

A place where we worship and heal...

A place where we come to be made whole...

This table of wholeness transcends...

class,

race,

sexuality,

abilities.

Amos awakens us with this powerful imagery… We are invited to wholeness…

What does Jesus teach us about being made whole?

God: Illumination (Luke 10:38-42)

Luke narrates a parable, where we often ask ourselves—are we Mary or are we Martha?

We have Mary at the feet of Jesus, listening to his teachings…

Meanwhile, we have Martha, head of the household, charged with hospitality that requires many tasks of her…

The text holds the tension between Mary, who demonstrates faith and eagerness to learn, and Martha, who demonstrates works of hospitality…

One might evaluate whether it’s more important to work toward piety where we sit at the feet of Jesus and grow in our knowledge of scripture...

Or we might work toward mercy by doing outreach and providing hospitality.

One might even venture to say this parable describes an outdoors and indoors church.

There is a tension—an attempt to differentiate what is essential—works of piety or works of mercy…

The parable's point is not to choose one at the expense of the other…

Jesus tenderly tells Martha: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, but few things are needed—indeed only one. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

You see, Church, Jesus acknowledges that there are two parts…

But there is a time and place for both works of piety and works of mercy.

For Mary… to have chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her… is specific to where she is in her journey...

For Mary, she needs to focus on those works of piety, searching the scriptures, learning from Jesus, pondering how to apply these teachings in her life....

Indeed, Martha’s faith expression was authentic in wanting to provide hospitality to Jesus…

Martha needed to be at these works of mercy in her faith journey.

For me, Jesus isn’t rebuking Martha for focusing on the wrong thing...

Jesus is gingerly reminding Martha that we are all in different places in our journey…

Both sisters honor Jesus…

You: Application (Luke 10:38-42)

Jesus wants us to live a holistic life and to bring our whole selves to the table.

As Methodists, we like to emphasize both works of piety and works of mercy...

I like to think of these acts as a continuum, and we need to evaluate from time to time where we are on that continuum.

How is it with your soul today...

How is it with your soul today...

For Mary, her soul needed to focus more on developing a more profound sense of contemplative spirituality...

For me… while reflecting on this text over the week, I have wondered what some signs are of when we are out of balance in developing works of piety and works of mercy?

Perhaps it’s when we privatize our faith because we feel so close to God in prayer, but disconnected from our neighbor’s suffering.

Maybe it’s the avoidance of discomfort, because we avoid the messy social realities, claiming we’re just called to pray or stay out of politics...

Perhaps it’s inaction masked as holiness—"I’ll pray for them,” rather than asking “how can I help you?”

Maybe it’s the silent complicity in not advocating against systems of injustice and for systems of equality.

...or on the other end of the spectrum...

Is it lashing out that my sister doesn’t have the same spiritual orientation as I do?

Perhaps we are experiencing burnout and exhaustion because we aren’t renewing ourselves and caring for our bodies spiritually.

Maybe it’s resorting to resentment or cynicism because we feel like we’re carrying the world's weight, forgetting to lean on God and our church community.

Perhaps it’s the development of a savior complex where we believe that change relies only on our efforts, rather than God’s divine grace working through us.

Friends, where is that balance between religious devotion and living out justice and mercy in your everyday life?

Sometimes, it’s easy to skip worship because you can tell yourself you’ve already worked in the clothing closet earlier in the week.

Sometimes, it isn’t easy to choose between attending worship or taking your kids to the weekend-long hockey tournament…

Just sometimes… It’s easier to sleep in on Sunday morning to nurse a sore back after working all day cleaning up the Erie Canal Trail of litter and debris.

Yes, we gather for worship on Sunday for a corporate or community experience…

But we are called to worship God every day, and this takes place in many forms.

Friends, we are called to carry that work out through personal piety and advancing the kingdom's work with our hands and feet…

...and we don’t do this in a vacuum; we don’t do this in separate quarters… we don’t do this in separate camps...

We: Inspiration

Just imagine what it would look like

To cultivate prayer into your daily life…

To meditate on scripture each day…

To reflect on a faith-inspired devotional for ten minutes in your day…

To attend one of the book studies we have throughout the year…

To get involved with Spirit Films...

To volunteer in the clothing closet or the food distribution program, we have...

To converse about the many social justice issues our community is engaged in...

Just imagine… the support you have built, the community to pitch in and take a parent to a doctor’s appointment while you cheer on your kid at a soccer game.

Imagine… the support you have in knowing faithful neighbors are serving the food pantry and the calmness God brings you to study for the final exam….

Life becomes a little lighter when we turn our attention to the teaching of Jesus and deepen our personal and communal worship of God.

In the name of our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.