Are You Sure, God, That You Show No Partiality?
Sermon
Holy Email
Cycle A Second Lesson Sermons for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany
Object:
E-mail
From: KDM
To: God
Subject: Being Inclusive
Message: Are you sure, God, that you show no partiality? Lauds, KDM
The haughty part of us would prefer that God be partial, that is, partial to you and to me. We want to reap the benefits of having been singled out. On the other hand, our decent side wants God to show no partiality. We do yield a little, however. It is fine for God to be impartial as long as we do not need to move over and lose our place.
The Apostle Peter had just had a dream. God showed Peter that he should call no one profane or unclean. He was still deep in thought about this when messengers from a non-Jewish high officer in the Roman army arrived. They said their leader, a religious person named Cornelius, had instruction in a dream from God to go to Peter. The emissaries asked that Peter allow the centurion to come listen to him.
It was a decisive moment for Peter. Peter reminded the emissaries that it was unlawful for Jewish folk to talk to Gentiles. However, because his own dream was still fresh, he also told them that God had pointed out in this dream that Jesus' message was not exclusively for the Jewish people. It was for all people. Christ is the savior of all. It was time to expand the reach of the message.
So when, as a result of these two dreams, Cornelius, the other Gentiles, and Peter's own people gathered, the first words out of Peter's mouth were clear, "You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ -- he is Lord of all" (v. 36).
Peter went further, bolstering one statement with a next. He reminded his audience that Jesus "went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil" (v. 38b).
Hearing these words, Peter's followers almost must have fallen over. Peter was there in Galilee after the resurrection when Jesus came to the eleven disciples. Jesus then commissioned them to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). At that time, Peter did not really hear those words. Anyway, he did not act on them until God came personally to him in the dream. Then Peter heard.
How long does it take for you and me to hear the word that we are to be inclusive? That God is for everyone? That all who believe in Christ, regardless of who we are, receive forgiveness through Christ? Like KDM, we look around and wonder aloud, "Are you sure, God, that you show no partiality?" When we, also, finally hear the message for ourselves, we do understand that God shows no partiality.
Hypocrites, pretenders, frauds, liars, and everyday saints -- no partiality.
Workaholics, alcoholics, drug abusers, prescription drug addicts, lottery-aholics, and degree-aholics -- no partiality.
Retirees, single parents, couples of all variety, youths, children, care center residents, and the sandwich generation -- no partiality.
Wheelchair users, tripod cane users, mobility cane and dog guide users, hearing device users, scooter users, motorcyclists, minivan drivers, long distance truckers, and e-mail users -- no partiality.
Let us include people from all lands, races, religious persuasions, city streets, rural areas, mansions, and condominiums.
God raises no eyebrow. God shows no partiality, favoritism, or exclusivity. "In every nation anyone who fears [God] and does what is right is acceptable to [God]" (v. 35). The family, the realm of God, is all-encompassing.
Family are people to whom we matter. From the outside, people might look at the sacrament of baptism as a rite of inclusion into an exclusive organization. Does baptism say to outsiders, "Welcome to the holy club, the in-group church?" Are the marks of holy baptism a sign of exclusivity or inclusivity?
Today is the day we remember the baptism of the adult Jesus. Baptism is a setting apart in the best sense of the word. Without isolating, baptism sets us apart for God. At baptism, we acknowledge whose we are. A parent or other chosen guardian who stands at the chancel and places an infant into the arms of the minister for baptism, christening, or dedication participates in a symbolic letting go that is a precursor of future separations.
Baptism also is an act of sharing one's child. Parents recognize that their child does not belong exclusively to them. Their child is more than the sole extension of their being. Their child has unique being. Further, the child belongs to two families -- the family of nurture and the family of God.
Neither does God belong exclusively to us. At first, it may have seemed so. The human understanding of God in the Old Testament of our Bible claimed God as highly political, familial, tribal, and then national. God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those down the right line could claim God as their God.
So important was this lineage that our first New Testament view of Jesus in Matthew was from the connecting genealogy. Having established genealogical legitimacy, New Testament storytellers hoped to convince others that Christ carried the proper pedigree.
You and I do the same thing when first meeting a distant relative. We verbally trace back to the connecting family -- to a common third cousin, the great-aunts who were sisters, the great-great grandfather who emigrated, the man on the slave ship. We study the face for family resemblance. We confirm connection before we affirm and welcome the relative into the wider family.
Then, there is the wonderful other connection of the chosen, adopted ones. Despite no more blood connection than that of two lifemates, the welcoming bond confirms the chosen commitment to adopt.
What are your connections? What is your background? Do you have a job? Do you have money? How do you feel about this or that issue? Do you have the right degree? These are not the questions that attend the rite of holy baptism.
To become a Christian requires no surrender of part of one's given identity but rather the taking on of a wider identity. Listen again to the first question of baptism1: Do you desire [yourself or your child] to be baptized into the faith and family of Jesus Christ?
Desire -- Do you desire? Do you yearn? Do you hunger and long? Is it your choice, your asking, your quiet request? Is it your doing? Only after this voluntary expression follow the renounce, profess, and promise questions that fill out the design of faith.
In adult baptism, there is the inner, personal side of covenant. We make the self-promises that confess belief in Christ. We pledge to live as best we can according to the way Christ lived. We promise God, ourselves, and the surrounding witnesses to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and in our unique fashion to let the way we live reflect and point to Christ.
The next promises move us beyond ourselves. These community vows promise faithfulness in church membership, celebration of Christ's presence, furthering the mission of Christ in all the world, and being part of the nurturing dimension of the church that draws others toward growth in their own faith.
Baptism may be a small thing, just a few drops of water or a splash. Yet its meaning is generous. A family remembers whose they are -- the other belonging, the holy connecting to the other family, forever. Baptism is just a few drops of water for you in there in your soul for the lifting up of memories as the mystery replays. So lift up this miracle of God's creation with just a few drops of water in the middle of doubting you can do a good enough job. Just a few drops of water, just a moment and a pause, as you remember the promise of God's quiet presence in just a few drops of water bringing the holy into the now. A few drops of water here in the middle of things that awake, create, and offer holy encouragement, a piece of affirmation with just a few drops of water.
____________
1. Wording of the baptismal questions is from the United Church of Christ tradition.
From: KDM
To: God
Subject: Being Inclusive
Message: Are you sure, God, that you show no partiality? Lauds, KDM
The haughty part of us would prefer that God be partial, that is, partial to you and to me. We want to reap the benefits of having been singled out. On the other hand, our decent side wants God to show no partiality. We do yield a little, however. It is fine for God to be impartial as long as we do not need to move over and lose our place.
The Apostle Peter had just had a dream. God showed Peter that he should call no one profane or unclean. He was still deep in thought about this when messengers from a non-Jewish high officer in the Roman army arrived. They said their leader, a religious person named Cornelius, had instruction in a dream from God to go to Peter. The emissaries asked that Peter allow the centurion to come listen to him.
It was a decisive moment for Peter. Peter reminded the emissaries that it was unlawful for Jewish folk to talk to Gentiles. However, because his own dream was still fresh, he also told them that God had pointed out in this dream that Jesus' message was not exclusively for the Jewish people. It was for all people. Christ is the savior of all. It was time to expand the reach of the message.
So when, as a result of these two dreams, Cornelius, the other Gentiles, and Peter's own people gathered, the first words out of Peter's mouth were clear, "You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ -- he is Lord of all" (v. 36).
Peter went further, bolstering one statement with a next. He reminded his audience that Jesus "went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil" (v. 38b).
Hearing these words, Peter's followers almost must have fallen over. Peter was there in Galilee after the resurrection when Jesus came to the eleven disciples. Jesus then commissioned them to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). At that time, Peter did not really hear those words. Anyway, he did not act on them until God came personally to him in the dream. Then Peter heard.
How long does it take for you and me to hear the word that we are to be inclusive? That God is for everyone? That all who believe in Christ, regardless of who we are, receive forgiveness through Christ? Like KDM, we look around and wonder aloud, "Are you sure, God, that you show no partiality?" When we, also, finally hear the message for ourselves, we do understand that God shows no partiality.
Hypocrites, pretenders, frauds, liars, and everyday saints -- no partiality.
Workaholics, alcoholics, drug abusers, prescription drug addicts, lottery-aholics, and degree-aholics -- no partiality.
Retirees, single parents, couples of all variety, youths, children, care center residents, and the sandwich generation -- no partiality.
Wheelchair users, tripod cane users, mobility cane and dog guide users, hearing device users, scooter users, motorcyclists, minivan drivers, long distance truckers, and e-mail users -- no partiality.
Let us include people from all lands, races, religious persuasions, city streets, rural areas, mansions, and condominiums.
God raises no eyebrow. God shows no partiality, favoritism, or exclusivity. "In every nation anyone who fears [God] and does what is right is acceptable to [God]" (v. 35). The family, the realm of God, is all-encompassing.
Family are people to whom we matter. From the outside, people might look at the sacrament of baptism as a rite of inclusion into an exclusive organization. Does baptism say to outsiders, "Welcome to the holy club, the in-group church?" Are the marks of holy baptism a sign of exclusivity or inclusivity?
Today is the day we remember the baptism of the adult Jesus. Baptism is a setting apart in the best sense of the word. Without isolating, baptism sets us apart for God. At baptism, we acknowledge whose we are. A parent or other chosen guardian who stands at the chancel and places an infant into the arms of the minister for baptism, christening, or dedication participates in a symbolic letting go that is a precursor of future separations.
Baptism also is an act of sharing one's child. Parents recognize that their child does not belong exclusively to them. Their child is more than the sole extension of their being. Their child has unique being. Further, the child belongs to two families -- the family of nurture and the family of God.
Neither does God belong exclusively to us. At first, it may have seemed so. The human understanding of God in the Old Testament of our Bible claimed God as highly political, familial, tribal, and then national. God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those down the right line could claim God as their God.
So important was this lineage that our first New Testament view of Jesus in Matthew was from the connecting genealogy. Having established genealogical legitimacy, New Testament storytellers hoped to convince others that Christ carried the proper pedigree.
You and I do the same thing when first meeting a distant relative. We verbally trace back to the connecting family -- to a common third cousin, the great-aunts who were sisters, the great-great grandfather who emigrated, the man on the slave ship. We study the face for family resemblance. We confirm connection before we affirm and welcome the relative into the wider family.
Then, there is the wonderful other connection of the chosen, adopted ones. Despite no more blood connection than that of two lifemates, the welcoming bond confirms the chosen commitment to adopt.
What are your connections? What is your background? Do you have a job? Do you have money? How do you feel about this or that issue? Do you have the right degree? These are not the questions that attend the rite of holy baptism.
To become a Christian requires no surrender of part of one's given identity but rather the taking on of a wider identity. Listen again to the first question of baptism1: Do you desire [yourself or your child] to be baptized into the faith and family of Jesus Christ?
Desire -- Do you desire? Do you yearn? Do you hunger and long? Is it your choice, your asking, your quiet request? Is it your doing? Only after this voluntary expression follow the renounce, profess, and promise questions that fill out the design of faith.
In adult baptism, there is the inner, personal side of covenant. We make the self-promises that confess belief in Christ. We pledge to live as best we can according to the way Christ lived. We promise God, ourselves, and the surrounding witnesses to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and in our unique fashion to let the way we live reflect and point to Christ.
The next promises move us beyond ourselves. These community vows promise faithfulness in church membership, celebration of Christ's presence, furthering the mission of Christ in all the world, and being part of the nurturing dimension of the church that draws others toward growth in their own faith.
Baptism may be a small thing, just a few drops of water or a splash. Yet its meaning is generous. A family remembers whose they are -- the other belonging, the holy connecting to the other family, forever. Baptism is just a few drops of water for you in there in your soul for the lifting up of memories as the mystery replays. So lift up this miracle of God's creation with just a few drops of water in the middle of doubting you can do a good enough job. Just a few drops of water, just a moment and a pause, as you remember the promise of God's quiet presence in just a few drops of water bringing the holy into the now. A few drops of water here in the middle of things that awake, create, and offer holy encouragement, a piece of affirmation with just a few drops of water.
____________
1. Wording of the baptismal questions is from the United Church of Christ tradition.
