{"id":1728,"date":"2018-01-21T12:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-01-21T17:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=1728"},"modified":"2019-09-22T13:17:29","modified_gmt":"2019-09-22T17:17:29","slug":"not-so-long-ago-and-not-so-far-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2018\/01\/21\/not-so-long-ago-and-not-so-far-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Not So Long Ago and Not So Far Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here to listen to\u00a0the full service<\/a><\/p>\n

Jonah 1:1-5, 10<\/a><\/p>\n

I Corinthians 7:29-31<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark 1:14-20<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to listen to the meditations\u00a0only<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Last weekend I went to the movies.\u00a0 I saw the eighth and latest episode of the \u201cStar Wars\u201d saga, entitled \u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d.\u00a0 I am a fan of the story, so I was predisposed to like it, and I did.\u00a0 There were some familiar faces, and some new ones.\u00a0 Of course there will be a sequel.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty sure that I don\u2019t give away any spoilers when I say that the plot continues.\u00a0 The scrappy ragtag remnants of the republic are up against the relentless and seemingly overwhelming forces of what is now known as the First Order and its Supreme Leader. After incredible challenges and great losses, at least some members of the republic escape to continue the story.\u00a0 While the plot does thicken, it essentially remains the same.<\/p>\n

This time, though, I was struck by two things.\u00a0 They may not be new to the story, but at least they stood out for me in a new way.\u00a0 One was that the remnants of the republic were mostly referred to as \u201cthe resistance\u201d, by themselves and even by the First Order.\u00a0 Now those who resist are those who refuse to accept or comply with something, or who attempt to prevent something by action or argument.\u00a0 Resistance can be violent, but it does not have to be.\u00a0 In \u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d, this time, even in the midst of all the whiz-bang, characters were told that blowing things up was not always the best way to accomplish the goal.\u00a0 Indeed, retreat could be the best and most viable option in order to resist another day.\u00a0 The second thing I noticed was that while of course the First Order was out to \u201ccrush the resistance\u201d, this time the reason they gave to do that was so that any hope, any hope, for continued resistance against the First Order would be crushed as well.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about hope in the last year or so.\u00a0 For many of us, if our hope is not crushed, it is a little tattered around the edges.\u00a0 Many of us have faced or are facing personal challenges in terms of health or finances, loss of a loved one or personal calamity.\u00a0 Added to that is the fact that the world is a much more uncertain place than it was a year ago.\u00a0 There are many decisions being made in government that seem to make no sense to many of us, no matter what our personal politics:\u00a0 decisions that will poison the air, earth, and water for generations to come; the escalation of the rhetoric of racism, misogyny, and division; the increased pandering to the very wealthy and to corporate interests;\u00a0 the dismantling of social safety nets and government agencies that promote the public wellbeing; and the flirtation with increasing militarization in national and international policy and with a cavalier attitude toward nuclear war.\u00a0 It is hard to know even where to begin to resist these decisions, when it seems that every week there is some statement, action, or scandal that derails any forward movement.<\/p>\n

In our Gospel reading this morning, Jesus begins his ministry in a challenging time.\u00a0 There is resistance to the Roman occupation of the country and to the puppet king.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 cousin John the Baptist has been arrested for his preaching of repentance, and his preaching of the coming of the one who is powerful and will baptize with the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Jesus calls his first disciples to his ministry with the good news that the time is now, the realm of God has come near. They can believe in the hope of a new life and turn to God.\u00a0 In this case he calls fishermen in the midst of their daily life to follow him, to use their fishing skills to bring others the good news of the realm of God.\u00a0 And immediately they believe the hope of the good news and follow him.<\/p>\n

Now we, as followers of Jesus in our time, are in a little different situation.\u00a0 Jesus preached the realm of God as near, so near that people could believe in its reality in their own lives, and invite others to join them to live that reality.\u00a0 The early church, especially after the resurrection, believed as Paul did in his letter to the church at Corinth.\u00a0 \u00a0The realm of God was so near that people should live as though the dominant social, economic, and cultural forms no longer operated in this new life. With us, we are more than two thousand years down the road.\u00a0 While we realize that the realm of God is both present and coming in our lives, we live in the midst of a changing, wonderful, and sometimes scary culture. It often promotes a reality that is in direct opposition to the ministry of Jesus and to the reality of life with God in Christ.\u00a0 So how do we as contemporary followers of Jesus keep our hope, keep our belief alive in this challenging time?\u00a0 And just as important, how do we share our hope and our belief with others who may still feel like the least, the last, and the lost, and could use a little hope?<\/p>\n

The Psalmist suggests we remember that the basis for our hope is our trust in God.\u00a0 God alone is our rock, our salvation, and our stronghold, so that we will not be shaken from our hope.\u00a0 We can pour out our hearts to God about our concerns and fears, and God will be our refuge.\u00a0 Other forms of seeming power are delusion, vain hopes.\u00a0 They will let us down.\u00a0 God alone has the power we need and God alone is worthy of our love and devotion.<\/p>\n

With this as a starting point, with God\u2019s presence and realm not just coming but present in our lives, we might expect that God might do some things we do not see coming, especially where there is opposition to the reality of our life with God.\u00a0 Our reading from Jonah describes one of these unexpected actions.<\/p>\n

This is the second time that Jonah is sent to Ninevah.\u00a0 The first time he refused to go, and ended up in the belly of a whale.\u00a0 Apparently this experience at sea changed his thinking, because this second time he does go to Ninevah and he does preach the message that God gives him:\u00a0 Ninevah will be overthrown in forty days.\u00a0 Now the interesting thing is that the word translated here as \u201coverthrown\u201d can also be translated to indicate a turnover or a change of heart.\u00a0 Sure enough, Ninevah, notorious for its wickedness, repents.\u00a0 They really repent, with fasting and sackcloth, and they turn from their evil ways.\u00a0 And in the face of their sincerity, God changes God\u2019s mind, and does not bring calamity to them.<\/p>\n

Jonah went to Ninevah, finally, because he was a prophet and that is what prophets do when they accept the call.\u00a0 It was Jonah\u2019s everyday life that God worked with to change a whole city for the better.\u00a0 Sometimes it is just doing what we do normally that can foster hope.<\/p>\n

I saw another movie last weekend, \u201cThe Post\u201d.\u00a0 This is the story of the discovery and publication of the Pentagon Papers.\u00a0 This publication was instrumental in ending the Viet Nam police action.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it is a spoiler to say that this publication was brought about by a small group of people.\u00a0 And they did not wake up and intend to start a process of change on a national level.\u00a0 They were living their everyday lives and doing their everyday jobs.\u00a0 Then something showed up that they just could not ignore in terms of the damage that was being done to individuals and the nation by the \u00a0government process around Viet Nam revealed by the Papers.\u00a0 So at great risk to themselves and their everyday lives they decided to make known what they had discovered, even though that knowledge was forbidden to the general public.\u00a0 When that knowledge was made public, the things that had seemed so hopeless for so long around what was going on in Viet Nam began to change.\u00a0 The police action ended, and there was some measure of hope that now the truth was out, things would be different.<\/p>\n

For us, we may not be in everyday positions to bring an evil city to repentance, or to reveal a nation-changing truth.\u00a0 But there may be for us some things we may think need changing, or may even need resistance.\u00a0 How do we find our hope, sustain our hope, in the midst of our personal and communal challenges?\u00a0 How do we respond to Jesus\u2019 ongoing call to believe the good news of the reality of God\u2019s realm, and to share that good news with others?\u00a0 We already know that it will not be easy, after this last year.\u00a0 It was not easy for Jesus and the first disciples, either.\u00a0 Mark is called the \u201cGospel of Conflict\u201d for a reason, and Jesus and the disciples did not just have conflicts with the religious and political authorities \u2013 they had conflicts with each other.\u00a0 Jonah was a reluctant prophet at best, and after he had served to help bring about God\u2019s work of conversion and mercy, he was angry.\u00a0 He thought Ninevah deserved to be overthrown in that sense of true overthrow.\u00a0 He berated God for being too merciful to this foreign city that deserved to be punished.\u00a0 Those who brought to light and those who published the Pentagon Papers risked the loss of long friendships and the threat of jail.\u00a0 And while the Viet Nam police action was ended, the revelations and the process of ending the action almost tore the country apart. and still have repercussions today.\u00a0 The facing of our personal challenges is often fraught with difficulty and pain, as well as resolution and reconciliation.<\/p>\n

But we cannot let conflict, or the possibility of conflict, stop us from finding and sustaining hope.\u00a0 In conflict also we can trust that God is at work to do a new thing, as God did at Ninevah, and with Jesus and the disciples and the early church, and as God is still doing, every day, in this world now.\u00a0 We cannot stop because without hope, we die.\u00a0 The First Order and the Supreme Leader are right.\u00a0 Crush the resistance, crush hope, and then we do nothing.\u00a0 We do not look for hope.\u00a0 We do not take the steps we need to take to sustain our hope.\u00a0 Without hope, we do not resist those things that oppress us in our minds, bodies, and relationships, and so our hope is crushed once again, in a vicious cycle.\u00a0 The good news is that we can get better at finding our hope. We can get better in what we hope for. We can get better in what we put our trust to sustain our hope.\u00a0 One of the new characters in \u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d puts it this way:\u00a0 It\u2019s not about destroying what we hate; it\u2019s about saving what we love.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what do we love enough to save?\u00a0 And when we decide that, who else loves the same thing and wants to save it, and where do we find these folks?\u00a0 And when we\u2019ve found them, what can we do together to save what we love?\u00a0 Because not being alone, because shared purpose and action, give us hope, and help us sustain our hope.<\/p>\n

And the great thing is, we often don\u2019t have to look very far, or in unusual places, to find our companions in hope.\u00a0 They, like us, live their everyday lives and try to use their skills to save the things they love.\u00a0 They may be right here at Marsh Chapel.\u00a0 Look around, at a worship service or a book discussion or a dinner or a service event.\u00a0 Or they could be in our neighborhoods.\u00a0 They grow or buy organic vegetables to preserve earth, air, and water that is not poisoned.\u00a0 They may serve those who could use a little hope and help through their work that is the same as ours, or they volunteer in places in which we too can volunteer.\u00a0 They may advocate or organize publicly, to expand the voices and presence of those too often ignored or unjustly maligned.\u00a0 They may produce a movie, documentary, website, or blog, that inspires us to hope and action.\u00a0 They go where the life is, and we can go there too, or even lead the way.<\/p>\n

What do we love and want to save?\u00a0 What gives us hope, that hope we want to sustain?\u00a0 It\u2019s not just about what we do.\u00a0 It\u2019s also about who we are and who we want to become.\u00a0 There are people we can join for that too.<\/p>\n

Mark Miller is a worship leader, a composer and performer of sacred music, and a musical theologian.\u00a0 He is on the faculty of two universities, is married, and is a father.\u00a0 And in the wider culture, it is also clear that at least some of his ancestors were not from Norway.\u00a0 As an aside, for any Norwegians with us, don\u2019t worry, we know it\u2019s not your fault.<\/p>\n

Anyway, Mark Miller in his everyday life and in his music recognizes the challenges to hope that we face both personally and communally.\u00a0 And he presents the perspective that who we are is just as important to the finding and sustaining of hope as what we do \u2013 in fact, they are so intertwined as to be inseparable.\u00a0 His latest composition has become something of a touchstone for many of us:\u00a0 we sing it to ourselves, we sing it to and with each other, we sing it with and for those who can relate and who also want to find and sustain their hope.\u00a0 It reminds us that in our faith and trust in God, we can be who we want to be and do what we want to do as our own best selves.\u00a0 We can save what we love. We can find our hope and sustain it.\u00a0 The song \u00a0is called, \u201cPrayer Chant (We Resist)\u201d, and it goes like this.\u00a0 (sings):<\/p>\n

\u201cWe resist.\u00a0 We refuse to let hatred in.\u00a0 We rise up.\u00a0 We won\u2019t back down.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re in this \u2018til the end.<\/p>\n

Pray for your enemies.\u00a0 Welcome the stranger.\u00a0 Show love to your neighbor.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re in this \u2018til the end.\u201d[1]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Where do we find our hope?\u00a0 Not so long ago and not so far away.\u00a0 But right here.\u00a0 Right now.\u00a0 \u201c \u2026 \u2018til the end.\u201d\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n

– The Reverend Victoria Hart Gaskell<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/span><\/a> \u00a9 Mark A. Miller 2017. http:\/\/www.markamillermusic.com\/product\/prayer-chant-we-resist\/<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Accessed January 29, 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here to listen to\u00a0the full service Jonah 1:1-5, 10 I Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20 Click here to listen to the meditations\u00a0only \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Last weekend I went to the movies.\u00a0 I saw the eighth and latest episode of the \u201cStar Wars\u201d saga, entitled \u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d.\u00a0 I am a fan of the story, so I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[13],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1728"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1803,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1728\/revisions\/1803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}