The triumphant Ride into Jerusalem, Mathew 21:1-11, April9 2017

Audio Here

The triumphant ride into Jerusalem!  The grand Procession.  The joy, as we reenact often what for many us is a fond memory from our own childhood. John Wesley Notes that “‘Hoseanna’ (Lord save us) was a solemn word in frequent use among the Jews.  The Meaning is ‘We sing hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he, the Messiah, of the Lord. Save. Thou that art in the highest heavens.’ Our Lord restrained all public tokens of honour from the people till now, lest the envy of his enemies should interrupt his preaching before the time.”[1]

Today we celebrate Jesus’ Triumphant entrance into Jerusalem.  Today is also known as Passion Sunday, which we will honor during the week as we recall the events that led to the torture and execution of Jesus.    So today let us focus on today!

Marcus Borg with John Dominc Crossan in the book “The Last Week” gives us a beautiful picture of what was happening;

Two Processions entered Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30…. One was a peasant procession, the other an imperial procession, From the east, Jesus rode a donkey down the Mount of Olives, cheered by his followers. …

On the opposite side of the city, from the west, Pontius Pilate, the roman Governor of Idumea, Judea, and Samaria, entered Jerusalem at the head of a column of imperial cavalry and soldiers.  Jesus’s procession proclaimed the Kingdom of God; Pilate’s proclaimed the power of empire.[2]

Most people do not realize that Pontius Pilate rode into Rome.  He was sent down during the Holidays to make sure there was no trouble.  Yet during this time there had been trouble and Pontius was anticipating it.

Imagine the imperial procession’s arrival in the city. A Visual panopoly of imperial power: cavalry on Horses, foot soldiers, leather armor, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold. Sounds: the marching of feet, the creaking of leather, the clinking of the bridles, the beating of drums. The swirling of dust. The eyes of the silent onlookers, some curios, some awed, some resentful.[3]

This is an intentional display of imperial power much like the army marching in Tiananmen square or rocket launches around north Korea.  This is to instill fear and remind people who is in charge.  It is also a warning to anyone who may think about offering any kind of resistance that there is a whole army waiting to react.

This display also was to be not just a display of military might but that of Religious authority as well.

According to this theology, the emperor was not simply the ruler of Rome, but the Son of God.  It began with the greatest of emperors, Augustus, who rules Rome form 31 BCE to 14 CE.  His father was the god Apollo, who conceived him in his mother, Atia. Inscriptions refer to him as “son of God,” “lord” and “savior,” one who had brought “peace on earth.”  After his death, he was seen ascending into heaven to take his permanent place among the gods.  His successors continued to bear divine titles, including Tiberius, emperor from 14 to 37 CE and thus the emperor during the time of Jesus’s public activity.  For Rome’s Jewish subjects, Pilate’s procession embodied not only a rival social order, but also a rival theology.[4]

Jesus’s procession, if we look at it as it is written in Mark seems like a very deliberate, planned, political action.  He tells his disciples where to find the colt and just mention that the master needs it and it is understood who and what it is for.  Okay, that is an assumption, but no one questions the disciples after they say that the colt it is for the master.

People of that time had to be very conscience of the symbolism, the direct contrast Jesus was presenting. Jesus is coming into town riding on a donkey, lowliest of animals.  His army are all peasants and common folk.  They are hailing him as the King, mocking that of Pontius’s entrance.

Jesus’s procession deliberately countered what was happening on the other side of the city. Pilate’s procession embodied the power, glory, and violence of the empire that ruled the world.  Jesus’s procession embodied an alternative vision, the Kingdom of God.[5]

As we have visualized this event could you see yourself in the story.  Would you have been one of the people joyously, celebrating, welcoming the new king into your city.  Believing this man was going to change everything right away.  This man, the one who is always causing trouble, breaking tradition, is in opposition not just to Rome but the religious authorities.  Would you welcome him Knowing that at any moment trouble could break out and you might be caught up it in it?

If you are saying to yourself yes I would be there.  I would welcome Jesus to the city.  I would be ready to stand beside him and walk with him no matter where it leads.  I would then say to you, know this…you are part of a great and brave group of people who are ready for a big and dramatic change.  Until it starts to happen.  For as soon as trouble started they all turned against him.  They asked for a murderer to be released over him.

Can you picture yourself maybe as the colt.  An innocent creature living in servitude, who is suddenly thrown into this spotlight.  You are given the great honor to carry the Lord and Master into this city.  You alone have been chosen to be blessed and to touch the living Christ.  The excitement of the crowd is energizing and terrifying at the same time and yet.  And yet, when it is all over you go back to what you were doing before no better and no worse for it.  Your life just goes on as it always did.

Maybe, just maybe you are one of the Roman guards on the far side of the city.  Part of the big corporation.  A Good soldier.  Following orders and doing what you are supposed to do.  Maybe you have heard something about this man about town.  There are rumors and stories.  Oddly enough you are called to stand Guard at an execution and turns out to be this Jesus you have heard so much about, “And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"(Mark 15:39)

Knowing all this, all this history, all this conflict, knowing what might be, knowing what we might have done in this story, who we might be.  Knowing that all this triumphant celebratory entry into the city will only end on a hill.  Jesus comes. Despite all that Jesus comes and Because of all this…All of you…all of us, all of humanity…Jesus comes!

Jesus Comes! Jesus Enters the city and there is an open invitiation to follow.  But how do we do that?  How do we follow Jesus into Jerusalem? What are we Called to do? How do we prepare to follow Jesus into Jerusalem?

 Here are a few practical ways to follow Jesus this week: Offer forgiveness freely and from the heart. Forgive often. It may be that you have been withholding forgiveness from someone who has deeply offended you. Or perhaps you need to work on forgiving those little everyday offenses that creep up. More likely you need to work on forgiving yourself. Become a good forgiver, without keeping count, as Jesus instructed Peter. If you are a grass is always greener or a keeping up with the joneses type person…let it go. Stop obsessing so much overstuff.  Yes, we love our stuff but it might be that we spend too much time holding on to what we think is ours. Obsession and control we need to let go! Be a peacemaker; love and pray for your enemies; go an extra mile with someone; stop worrying about who is to be first or best or most powerful.

Amanda Beck writes;

You may say that these practical instructions amount to being nice to others and being a good person but carry very little spiritual weight. We would all prefer merely to contemplate the mystery of God’s coming near and follow Jesus’ journey with a spiritual devotion to the suffering servant. It is true that many of these instructions don’t seem spiritual in themselves. We must do them, not because of their own spiritual weight, but because our hearts are very small. We clutter them daily with concern for ourselves, misplaced loves, and hurt feelings. We must make room for Jesus in order to welcome him properly. Somehow this practical work done with spiritual attention prepares the way of the Lord as nothing else can. It changes us. It makes room in our hearts that Jesus can fill with the kingdom of heaven. This is the way to make straight the path of the Lord: self-emptying. There is no other way to let Jesus’ message sink in, and there is no other way to follow our Lord than to walk in his footsteps. Jesus’ life was one of self-emptying and service to God and humanity, and so we make our lives in his likeness. If there was ever a week to get this right, this is it. If there was ever a point in the Christian narrative to step out of the way and let the story of divine love continue, this is it.[6]

So on this day when we gleefully welcome Jesus into Jerusalem with all the knowing and all the anticipation of the spiritual practice this week.  This is the time to spend spiritually on ourselves.  This is the week to practice spiritual centeredness and forgiveness and right living so that we cannot only be  spiritually present to each other but to the community around us.

This week can be used to ramp us up for the rest of the year so that we here at United Church of Christ Petaluma may “put our faith into action through our commitment to compassion and justice. So that As individuals and as a congregation, we address need and challenges of inequality in our community and around the world as we seek ways in which we may join others to advance social and environmental justice.”[7]

Does anyone know where those last few lines came from??  Your own website. you all are doing a lot individually and collectively as a congregation, but this week, this week is for yourself.  This week is about reenergizing ourselves as Christians as we live into our story.  Look for yourself in the story, look for what moves you spiritually this week.  Jesus’ walk to good Friday is part of our richest tradition.  It empowers and inspires so that we may be who we are called to be  Christ to the world. Amen.

---

[1] Jenee Woodard, The Abingdon Creative Preaching Annual (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013), 85.

[2] Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week: The Day-by-day Account of Jesus's final Week in Jerusalem (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006),

[3] Ibid., 3.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid., 5.

[6] David Neil Mosser, and Wellman, eds., Abingdon Preaching Annual 2011 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010), 119.

[7] UCC Petealuma, About, 2017, accessed April 9, 2017, https://uccpetaluma.org/about/.

Be the Miracle, John 11:1-45, April 2, 2017

Be the Miracle Audio

Thomas R. Kelly writes in his spiritual classic, A Testament of Devotion:

Over the margins of life comes a whisper, a faint call, a premonition of richer living which we know we are passing by. Strained by the very mad pace of our daily outer burdens, we are further strained by an inward uneasiness, because we have hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power.[1]

I had a professor at Claremont school of theology that used to say; ”I hate to be the one to tell you this but it’s not a matter of if but a matter of when ”From the day we are born we begin to die. It’s as if our bodies are already dressed in grave clothes. As marvelous as science is, it has not yet mastered life’s greatest enemy, death. Yet there is one who has.

What kind of life would we lead if we were guaranteed not to die? How would we live if we knew already that we were immortal like a kind of Superman or Superwoman? Would be in such a hurry to get so much done?

There is something hard about this reading.  Jesus waited.  God waited.  God allowed someone to die and for “The people he loved” to suffer. Yet isn’t this the experience of everyone at one time or another. Sometimes we pray and God delays. Why?

 Though not one of the twelve disciples, I do believe this is the one whom Jesus loved, Lazarus was at least one of Jesus’ closest friends. When Jesus heard of his friend’s sickness, he indicated God’s purpose by saying that the illness would be used for God’s glory and God's Son’s glory. While others panicked, and were concerned, Jesus was calm in his faith. Then he went on to say that God’s purpose was “so that you may believe.” Lazarus’ sisters both responded quite emotionally that if Jesus had been there sooner he would not have died. By this time, he had been dead four days. Again, Jesus emphasized the necessity to believe. Even his prayer, which was a public prayer, was said so that hearers may believe.

In the Play Corpus Christi by Terrance McNally we get a little different view of this miracle.

“Simon there was an old man Lazarus. He’d been dead for six days and was starting to smell to high heaven. He had a wife and six daughters. I wish you could heard the racket they were making.

                And we do as the DISCIPLES become the WAILING WOMEN.

                They are Loud.

Joushua Arise Lazarus.

Simon  I think this was one of the practical miracles. I mean, there was no big reason for it.  Lazarus was no big Cheese or even especially a nice guy.  Joshua just couldn’t stand the noise.

Joshua Shut up, women.  Thank you.  Lazarus arise.

                LAZARUS suddenly sits up. ( in the 2006 version everyone screams in horror)

LAZARUS what’s the matter with you? You’d think you seen a ghost!

Joshua You have been asleep Lazarus – not for six days but for all the years of your life. Now live as if your very life depended on it.

LAZARUS How do I live? Teach me.

JOSHUA Be awake every moment and give thanks to God the Father for it. Give back as much – no, more! - Than you have been given. Laugh. Fill your lungs with His good air and Pray.  You have all forgotten how to pray.”[2]

Have we forgotten How to pray?  Or have we become obsessed with prayers of need and want or prayers for that miracle?

Before Lazarus’ resurrection (John 11:1-45) several things happened, perhaps serving as clues as to what we might expect before God intervenes.

Before God intervenes… Delay.  A sacred time of living into the situation we are in, a time where we must seek out our own way of just being.  Jesus stayed several more days after hearing of Lazarus’ Illness while the family had to cope, comfort each other and find acceptance of their situation.

Before God intervenes… Opposition: When Jesus finally decided to go, the disciples tried to dissuade him.  This opposition to a miracle sometimes comes as we love our misery, or we hate change even if it might be for the better of the situation or worse yet the betterment of ourselves.

Before God Intervenes…Blame: Martha and later Mary told Jesus that if he had been there her brother would not have died. Often too we blame ourselves for whatever our situation may be or blame others…this never would have happened if I only had done this or if you had only done that …

Before God Intervenes…Doubt: Martha also doubted that anyone could do anything after her brother had been dead four days. We become stuck in our own situations.  Feelings of helpless ness or hopelessness overwhelm us and we cannot seem to move on.

God may choose to bless us with a temporary miracle, and our faith may be tried but I believe we need to follow the wisdom of Terrance McNally’s Joshua. Be awake every moment and give thanks to God the Father for it. Give back as much – no, more! - Than you have been given. Laugh. Fill your lungs with His good air and Pray.”[3]

The miracle given is not the resurrection, in my opinion, it is the opportunity to live life to the fullest

               

You know time McGraw has a song that address that it tells a story of a man in his forty who gets hit with the news of being terminal when asked what he did with that he says ;

“"I went skydiving

I went Rocky Mountain climbing

I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu

And I loved deeper

And I spoke sweeter

And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying"

And he said

"Someday I hope you get the chance

To live like you were dying"[4]

Jesus said; “Lazarus come out.” The dead man came out, his feet bound and his hands tied, and his face covered with a cloth.  Jesus said untie him and let him go!” (John 11:44)  That is the miracle Lazarus was free from what bound him able to live life as Jesus wants us to live.

We are called to live and laugh and love fully in this life, to offer forgiveness and understanding where we can, to offer hospitality and companionship, and to fight for those who have less than, so that they too may have the opportunity live a resurrected life.

That’s it right simple live free and forgiven and proclaim it to all.  Simple to say the challenge is to try and to do it every day.  Do not wait for a miracle, be the miracle. And choose to live a Resurrected Life! Amen!

---

[1] Stephen W. Smith, Living the Lazarus Life: A Guidebook for Spiritual Transformation (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2009), https://www.cmalliance.org/alife/the-lazarus-life/.

[2] Terrence McNally, Corpus Christi: A Play (New York: Grove Press, 1998), 58.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Tim McGraw, Live like you were dying [piano, vocal, chords] (Miami, Fla: Warner Bros., 2005).

Transgender Justice, John 9:1-41 March 26 2017

Audio is here

In today’s Gospel, we see a man go through a life changing experience.  A physical miracle as he goes form blind to sighted.  As I mentioned at the opening today, we are honoring the National weekend of Prayer for Transgender Justice.  Being Transgender has been viewed as a gift, an awesome blessing of one who can transcend the physical boundaries of gender. Because of that they were, in some cultures, believe to be able to transcend the physical and spiritual worlds.  I think that is truly a beautiful way of looking at what it means to be transgender.

I look at being transgender as a calling.  People are being called to be who they truly are and that requires a special process, a special way of being in the world that is different than most people understand. Many People choose not to even try to understand.

This sermon is not going to be easy.  Some of the facts are hard.  Much of the truth is painful.  If it wasn’t we would have no need for a weekend of prayer for Transgender Justice. Unfortunately, we do…

This article came from the southern Poverty law center march 1^st

In the past week, four transgender black women have been murdered in the United States — a trend that’s alarming civil rights and anti-violence advocates.

The New York City Anti-Violence Project, which tracks transgender crimes, says there have been seven murders of transgender people so far, this year, well above the corresponding number last year.

The Anti-Violence Project documented the homicides of 23 transgender and gender nonconforming people in 2016, the highest ever recorded by the coalition.

“As we face an administration which devalues the safety and rights of transgender people and people of color, we must work tirelessly to support transgender friends, family, and community members,” NCAVP manager Emily Waters said in a statement.

Three of the most-recent homicides occurred in Louisiana, two in New Orleans.

Ciara McElveen, was found stabbed to death on Monday in New Orleans 7th Ward. That homicide came only two days after another black transgender woman, Chyna Gibson, was shot and killed in New Orleans on Feb. 25, the Anti-Violence Project reports.

In Monroe, Louisiana Jaquarrius Holland was found murdered on Feb. 19, the Anti-Violence Project reports.

In Chicago, Keke Collier, also known to friends as Tiara Richmond, was shot to death on Feb. 22 while walking near her home in Chicago.

Earlier homicides involving transgender victims occurred Jan. 4, with the death of Mesha Caldwell, in Canton, Mississippi; the Jan. 6 death of Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and the Feb. 8 death of Jojo Striker, in Toledo, Ohio, according to data provided to Hatewatch by the Anti-Violence Project.

McElveen’s murder brings transgender killings up to the numbers reported at the same time last year, with transgender women targeted at a slightly higher rate than in previous years.

Because Ciara McElveen and Chyna Doll Dupree were killed in Louisiana, a state with hate crime laws that do not offer protections for gender identity, it is unlikely the charge will be pursued without federal support for the investigation. Keke Collier’s murder is the only one of the six carried out in a state with hate crime laws that protect transgender people.

In previous years, those not covered by state hate crimes laws could have placed some hope in the federal government under the Matthew Shephard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Developed in the wake of the brutal 1998 murders of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay man from Wyoming, and James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old African-African man, the act was used to prosecute an anti-transgender hate crime for the first time in 2016.

However, given the Trump administration’s most recent rescinding of President Barack Obama’s guidance on protections for transgender school children, along with the withdrawal from a court challenge related to this guidance by Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice, there is concern that these murders will go overlooked by the Trump administration.

Lisa Gilmore, of the Illinois Accountability Initiative, said the Chicago murder is “yet another violent attack leading to the death of a young transgender woman of color in our beloved community.”

“The humanity and personhood of transgender women need to be recognized,” Gilmore said. “As trans-women of color are among the most vulnerable in our communities and our nation, we all must be accountable for their safety and access to opportunities.”

In New Orleans, local transgender activist Syria Sinclaire expressed sadness about the trend. “We should have the right to live our lives open and free and not be taunted and traumatized by the general public if they don't approve,” Sinclaire said in a statement released by the Anti-Violence Project.

Shelby Chestnut, director of community organizing and public advocacy for the organization, said the record-pace number of transgender homicides comes at a time when “the Trump administration is rolling back protections for transgender youth. This is totally unacceptable.”

“We need to protect transgender lives at all stages, but especially in youth where they experience bullying, family rejection and violence that affects them throughout their lives,” Chestnut said.[1]

Per a recent report “In America, up to 1.6 million youth experience homelessness each year. The statistics for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) homeless youth are even more shocking, as this group represents up to 40% all young people experiencing homelessness. Considering that LGBT youth represent an estimated 7% of the total youth population, these numbers are disproportionately high. While even a single young person without a home is one too many, the disparity of LGBT youth experiencing homelessness is unfathomable.”[2]

In the transgender population 1 in 5 have reported experiencing homelessness.  The issue for homeless transgender youth is that they need to eat, they need to have safe space to sleep and they need money for their medications.  This often leads them seeking ways to make money that is unsafe and dangerous.  Often when I worked with the transgender youth group at Children’s hospital Los Angeles I would hear stories of young people seeking hormones on the street because they could net get medical services. To pay for these meds they did whatever they needed to do to survive.

In the book, Queering Christianity, I wrote on the topic of transgender youth. 

“Many times, in our daily lives as we try to discover who we are and wat we need to be, we struggle we struggle with the concept of God who calls us to be ourselves.”[3]Virginia Mollenkott reminds us “We often find that we are more concerned with being ‘right’ and appearing to have it all together than being faithful to God’s holy calling to live our lives with as much integrity we can muster.”[4] ”Unfortunately with the constraints’ of society, culture, faith, and family we tend to shy away from these callings”[5]

Again Virginia Mollenkott point out that “As gender variant people we have also been and continue to be the unwilling , undeserving targets of a pervasive lack of social and spiritual integrity.  That is why we must do all we can to move the gender-variant persons out of the category of “victim” into that of “survivor” and even “thriver”.”[6]

“Society must cease its targeting and seeking out, or in some cases, ignoring the transgender person. The transgender person has an inevitable right to live life as a recognized and valued member of society.”[7]  We as Christians are called walk beside the transgender person through their journey, we are called to defend and protect each and every person as a child of God but more so the least of these, those who stand at the margins of society.

The first transgender person I met was a man named Dwayne he lived in the men’s dorm at the catholic college.  But on the weekends, he would do his hair and makeup and go out to perform and live as his true self miss Natalie.  He lived a dual life and though I do not know what has happened to him since he often spoke of how he hated being one person during the week and another on the weekend.  I hope he found his happiness.

I must not I used the pronoun he because at the time Dwayne referred to himself in the male pronoun. Of course that was 1981-82.

There is a wonderful story going around.  You know when someone has a baby the first question is “is it a boy or a girl”  the correct answer is we don’t know it hasn’t told us yet!”  If only we lived in such a world where everyone was truly free to express who they are and going to be in their own terms.

Today the Transgender person is becoming more visible and role models can be seen throughout our modern American society. For example Judge Vicki Kowolkowski is a superior court Judge since 2011 and  a transgender woman.  She also happens to be a colleague and friend as she is an ordained minister in the Metropolitan community church.

People can see show like transparent thought the star is straight himself Jeffery Tambor plays a true to the experience role. Of course, there is Laverne Cox Hollywood star, actress and model who has two shows on T.V. right now. Here is a brief bio of her from Wikipedia

“Laverne Cox is an American actress, reality television star, television producer, and LGBT advocate. [She became known for her portrayal of Sophia Burset on the Netflix television series Orange Is the New Black, for which she became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the acting category, and the first to be nominated for an Emmy Award since composer/musician Angela Morley in 1990. In 2015, she became the first openly transgender person to have a wax figure of herself at Madame Tussauds. In 2017, she became the first transgender person to play a transgender series regular on broadcast TV as Cameron Wirth on Doubt on CBS.”[8]

I can honestly say there has not been a time in my life since I was 19 that there has not been a transgender person in my circle.  I lost one friend to violence in san Francisco back 1989.  I mourn her every time I need to talk about this.  And WE need to talk about this.

People call transgender people all sort of awful things.  They condemn them to death without a judge or a jury not that one is needed for no crime has been committed..  In today’s Gospel when asked why the man was blind what did Jesus say? 

The disciples ask Jesus what is this individual’s sin that caused this is it his own or his parents?

Jesus replies;

“It wasn’t because of anyone’s sin---

Not this person’s, nor the parents’.

Rather, it was to let God’s works shine forth

In this person” (John 9:3)

I am sure I am going to hear it from someone how dare I use Christ’s word to justify a transgender or gender queer person. Well just in case I didn’t get it right the first time, I can do it again Jeremiah 1:5 says; “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you;” Each Human being has Value.  Each one of us form the most marginalized to the hardest to understand or comprehend has value.

We as Christians are called to stand up and fight.  Has an open and affirming congregation we are called over and over again to voice our convictions, marginalization of people will not be tolerated. It is easy to stand here in the pulpit and to sit in the pew and maybe even in coffee hour where we are comfortable with similar minded people to talk about it.

 But do we do when out in a crowd and we hear something or someone says something?  Do we stand up?  Do we attempt to educate?  Or do we sit back quietly in fear or anger and maybe just grumble to ourselves?

The man who was blind but now could see was taken before the Pharisees. They asked him since your eyes were opened what do you say about Jesus. He is a prophet the man replied knowing this could get him kicked out of the synagogue.

So they brought in his parents who knew if they affirmed the miracle they could be kicked out so they said he is old enough ask him.  Again they did and he replied “I do not know if he is a sinner or not all I know is I can see.”

Finally they asked him again how this happened and he replied I already told you why do you need me to tell you again Unless you too wish to be his disciple.  Of course they get in an argument and finally he proclaims “if this one was not from God he could never had done such a thing!”

This man Never saw Jesus but knew his work without seeing him as a matter of fact he acknowledges Christ 3 times knowing what the consequence would be. He makes Peter look really bad.

What I am saying here is over and over again a person proclaims who they are meant to be  and our society tries to suppress, deny them,  or fix them and if that doesn’t work they well evidently they will beat them and worse kill them!

Let me tell you about my friend Bamby Salcedo.

“Very early in life, she experienced numerous challenges. Growing up in a poor home with a single working mother in Guadalajara, Mexico, she was drawn to the companionship and lessons of several hardships in life like childhood sexual abuse by an abusive step father, the use of drugs and surviving in the hard streets of Guadalajara Mexico as a child. Maneuvering her uneasy way through separate worlds of family, school, gangs, and LGBTQ friends, she fell into a deep cycle of drugs, crime, juvenile institutions and later, after immigrating to the US, prisons and constant street violence. Repeatedly facing her mortality, and amid many reversals, she committed herself to treatment for her addiction to work on herself and learn the root cause of what was leading the life she was living.

She then slowly began to experience, build and imagine a different and better life for herself. But Bamby’s improbable survival also inspired within her a sense of duty to help others as she recovered her life. One by one, she began to transform each challenge and each issue of her early life into the substance, basis and gravitas for her current extraordinary work, activism and life. Even now, she is always ready to credit others who assisted her transcendent rise. Bamby often speaks of herself as a “Community Investment”.[9]

I first met Bamby when she was working at Children’s hospital as the social advocate for the transgender youth program.  It was because of Bamby’s openness and willingness to listen, that we could establish an ongoing spiritual outreach to the program that continues to this day.

One of the programs she initiated at children’s hospital was angels of change;

Arriving at Children’s Hospital, Bamby saw a lack of visibility and funding for the trans youth programs. Angels of Change, a remarkable ‘rite-of-passage’ experience for trans and gender nonconforming youth. Angels of Change is a calendar and runway show that Bamby has produced each year for the past seven years. Angels of Change also raises funds for The Center for Trans Youth Health and Development with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine.

Participating in “Angels of Change” is an opportunity for trans and gender non-conforming youth to develop self-presentation skills in a safe, fun environment by participating in the production of a yearly calendar – the world’s first calendar featuring trans youth. A celebratory, non-competitive runway show by the participants caps off a program that challenges and builds self-esteem, confidence, cooperation, belonging and an opportunity to project into the future for its participants. Bamby’s creation of “Angels of Change” recognizes and significantly addresses a previously missing cultural positive representation of trans and gender nonconforming youth.

My Life is richer because of the many, many transgender youth I have worked with and the transgender adults who helped shape my life.  We as an open and affirming church and even as a denomination are called to do more than proclaim it when in the face of such violence in our community.  We must stand up and act.  So, on this weekend of National prayer for Transgender Justice – Freedom we pray;

Let the rain come and wash away the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds held and nurtured over generations. Let the rain wash away the memory of the heart, and neglect. Then Oh God, let the sun come out and fill the sky with beautiful rainbows.

Let the warmth of the Sun heal us wherever we are broken. Let It burn away the fog so that each of us sees each other clearly. So that we can move beyond labels, beyond accents, gender, sexual orientation, or skin color. Let the warmth and brightness of the sun melt our selfishness. So that we can share the joy and sorrow of our neighbors. And let the light of the sun be so strong that we will see all people as our neighbors.

Let the Earth, nourished by rain, bring forth flowers to surround us with your beauty, and let the mountains teach our hearts to reach upward to heaven. Then, Dear God, grant us comfort, give us peace, and allow us strength to enable us to Stand up, Fight for, and be a Voice for Equality. In Jesus' name, Amen!

Offered by Rev. Debra J. Hopkins, Black trans woman, minister at

Sacred Souls Community Church in Charlotte, NC.

---

[1] Bill Morlin, Four Transgender Murders in a Week "Alarming Trend,” March 1, 2017, accessed March 21, 2017, https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/03/01/four-transgender-murders-week-alarming-trend.

[2] true colors fund, our issue, 2017, accessed March 21, 2017, https://truecolorsfund.org/our-issue/.

[3] Robert E. Shore-Goss et al., eds., Queering Christianity: Finding a Place at the Table for LGBTQI Christians (Santa Barbara, California: Praeger, 2013), 300.

[4] Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, and Vanessa Sheridan, Transgender Journeys (Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2003), 30.

[5] Shore-Goss et al., Queering Christianity: Finding a Place at the Table for LGBTQI Christians, 300. 

[6] Virginia Ramey Mollenkott , and Vanessa Sheridan, Transgender Journeys, 30.

[7] Shore-Goss et al., Queering Christianity: Finding a Place at the Table for LGBTQI Christians, 300

[8] Wikipedia, Laverne Cox, accessed March 22, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laverne_Cox.

[9] Bamby Salcedo, Bamby Salcedo Bio, 2017, accessed March 22, 2017, http://bambysalcedo.com/bio.php.

The woman at the well, John 4:5-42 March 19 2017

recording of the sermon is here

“There is a hunger deep in every heart, a deep craving for forgiveness and hope, a sense that our best days are not all behind us, that God has not given up on us even if we have in some ways given up on ourselves. I believe we all crave some token of God’s presence in what often seems a godforsaken world.”[1]

The Story of the Samaritan women at the well calls to our yearning our need to be touched by God or at least to see God present in this world.  As obvious as water from a well may be, we do not know we have it till it is brought up into the light.

The interesting thing about the Samaritan woman and this well is that readers at the time would know exactly what this story was referencing.  Ministry magazine has a nice summary.

“Abraham decided it was time for his son Isaac to get married. In Bible times, fathers decided these things. So Abraham sent his servant to go to the place of Abraham’s birth, to a foreign land, and, among his relatives, to find a wife for Isaac. The servant packed ten camels with tons of goods and gifts and headed out (Genesis 24).

After entering the foreign land, the servant stopped by a well and he prayed: “There are young women coming to this well to draw water. I am going to ask for a drink. May the one who gives me a drink and offers to water my camels, may she be the wife you have chosen for Isaac.” Even before he finished his prayer, Rebekah arrived at the well and did everything he had asked. When she finished watering the camels, she ran home. The servant of Abraham was then invited to supper, but before he would allow himself to eat, he asked that arrangements be made for the marriage of Rebekah and Isaac.

Isaac and Rebekah’s son Jacob also met his bride at a well (Genesis 29). After traveling to a foreign land, Jacob stopped near a well and began asking whether anyone hanging around knew his relatives. Just then a young woman came up to the well. Scripture says that Jacob kissed her and wept. Like Rebekah, her soon-to-be mother-in-law, Rachel immediately ran home. Eventually her father and Jacob made marriage arrangements.

Fast-forward to Moses. After he got into serious trouble with Egypt’s  pharaoh, Moses fled from Egypt and went into a foreign land called Midian. Scripture says that he “sat down by a well” (Exodus 2). What have we come to expect at this moment? Sure enough—the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came with their father’s flocks for water to the well where Moses rested. But a group of shepherds started giving the women trouble. Moses stepped in, defended the women, and made sure that their flocks had all the water they needed, and then the women went home. After Moses was invited to supper, one of the seven sisters, Zipporah, was given to Moses in marriage.

Wells and weddings seem to go together.[2]

I had not ever heard this parallel drawn before and I must say it truly intrigued me.  In the past I have always heard how this story is a mirror image of the Nicodemus story.  And the images are easy to see the parallels and the differences almost as if they were meant to be read side by side.

Look at the characters of the two stories: “Nicodemus” and “the woman.” She is not named, which is significant. If the designation makes her anonymous in one way, it also makes her representative. We cannot excuse ourselves from this story by imagining that what Jesus said or did applies only to her.

In addition, obviously, unlike Nicodemus she is a woman. That Jesus talked to women at all, even taught women, scandalized the Pharisees, who were known to thank God they had been born men. She is a Samaritan, moreover, while Nicodemus was a Jew. Jews had no dealings with Samaritans (think apartheid or Jim Crow). Jews considered Samaritans half-breeds, pagans, heretics, and apostates. Samaritans, like all persecuted peoples, considered themselves the true witnesses to God, the builders of God’s true temple on Mount Gerizim. Jews and Samaritans hated each other both racially and religiously.

Nicodemus is a three-time winner and insider: he is a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews (meaning an elected official), and he is a teacher of Israel. The woman is as outside as Nicodemus is in: not only because she is a woman, and a Samaritan woman besides, but she is a sinful Samaritan woman at that—married and divorced so many times she doesn’t even bother with the ceremony anymore—ostracized by the other women, by the other Samaritan women; that’s when you know it is bad.”[3]

This is an interesting and , I must say not a very modern view of this woman’s plight.  Modern society and even ancient labelled her a sinner. Yet what is one person’s Judgement may not be reality at all.  Mary Haloviak has a different perspective; “Modern western readers typically think of her as a loose woman with a sinful past—because of her five marriages and because, at the time she met Jesus, she was living with a man who was not her husband. However, in the world of Jesus’ day, men decided issues of marriage and divorce, not women. Unlike today, only husbands could get a divorce, abandon their families, and kick out their spouse. Also, in the world of Jesus’ day, women could not survive unless they were attached to a man. After this woman’s first abandonment (through death or divorce), if she did not have a father or brother or adult son who would take her in, she had to attach herself to another man in order to live. Going through this experience five times is tragic beyond words.

Given the world of Jesus’ day, her story is probably more of a discarded woman with a painful past than of a loose woman with a sinful past. Why was she discarded so many times? Since her current living conditions were based on her own survival, she was living with someone who refused to acknowledge his responsibility to her. We should probably see her more as a slave who had to do whatever he wanted than as a secret lover having an affair. She was trying to survive. He should have married her.”[4]

The days and the circumstances were very different then than they are today and in this context one may also understand why Jesus bequeaths his mother to the beloved disciple it was assuring her survival.

So some final differences are Nicodemus Goes to Jesus in the night in secret. Jesus goes to the woman in daylight plain as can be and he addresses her.  Nicodemus as I pointed out last week just didn’t understand Jesus or his ministry where we the Woman says I see you are a prophet!

So Jesus asked this Samaritan woman for water from the well.  We know she is nothing like the other Biblical women who ended up married because they were at a well. And Yet John has set us up for what? A Wedding?

Well according to ministry magazine yes sort of…. “Yet Jesus keeps talking with her. He keeps offering her living water. He proclaims to her that His “hour” is coming
and when it comes, worship of God will not be about ethnicity or whether one worships on this mountain or that mountain. With Jesus, the hour has come where true worshipers will worship God in spirit and truth. Jesus tells her that God seeks such worshipers. In this encounter at a Samaritan well, the family of God is expanding!

For the first time in John Jesus shares his true identity.4 When she begins talking about the Messiah who is coming, Jesus says, “I am”! I am the Living Water, the Messiah, the One coming, the One here, God! Suddenly her hope for the future is also for the present! The Messiah is no longer something to anticipate, the Messiah is here . . .”[5]

Can you imagine being this woman who has so been beaten down and yet , from the conversation we know she is theologically savvy.  She knows the prophecies she knows and believes what has been handed down through the ages to her people.  And now here is the messiah.  Her heart must have leapt.

He has told her everything about herself.  He has broken the social rules to speak to her.  He has broken the ritualistic Jewish and Samaritan rules to even share a cup from the well with her.  There is something new and exciting happening here.

“Typically, in scenes when women and men meet at wells, the woman leaves the well and goes to her family, and the family then comes to meet the man, the future bridegroom, at the well. Then, after they share a meal, the two families make wedding plans. In John 4, the Samaritan woman does not go to her family. This is another clue in the story that she probably does not have one. But she does go to her community.”[6]

I would venture to say she did run back to tell her family.  This town had one way or another become her family either through her own cunning to survive or, as I would like to believe, they were intentional in making sure she was cared for and not left to die destitute and hungry.  So now she has gone to town and is preaching up a storm.  She is bringing the whole village to Christ.

Jesus kind of reproaches his own disciples by saying “I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into that labor’ ” (4:38, NRSV) The harvest which the disciples did not labor are all those who will come to Christ.  Literally in this moment it is the Samaritan village that is running across the fields to meet Jesus.  They came to believe because of what the woman told them.  Her personal witness of how Christ had moved her and perhaps even changed her.

“The family of God has expanded. The harvest has begun. Jesus receiving hospitality from Samaritans for two days must have meant lots of sharing of eating utensils and drinking vessels. When women from other Samaritan homes went to the well for water to cook and serve Jesus and His disciples, did the disciples go with them to help? What boundaries were broken down during those two days? How were the disciples’ eyes opened? After all, in the future they will follow the Samaritan woman’s example, bringing all kinds of people to Jesus, in all different cities and villages.”[7]

This is what we are called to do as Christians as a community.  Now evangelization is not everyone’s thing.  Today if one goes about preaching that one knows the messiah you get written off as a cook ro a fanatic. But breaking boundaries?  Going where we are not expected to go? Offering water that is life giving?  That we can do.

For example, through the One great Hour of Sharing “In cooperation with Global Ministries, Church World Service, Action by Churches Together, Interchurch Medical Assistance, Foods Resource Bank, Oikocredit, Freedom from Hunger and hundreds of local partners around the world, One Great Hour of Sharing is part of a remarkable network of service and caring that is efficient, effective and faithful. Administrative costs are typically less than eight percent annually.

The United Church of Christ unites with Christians in eight other Protestant denominations and Church World Service in One Great Hour of Sharing, thus multiplying the effectiveness and extent of our witness many times over.

The partnership we share with nearly 6,000 United Church of Christ congregations across the United States and Puerto Rico is where this remarkable miracle connecting UCC members to the world truly begins. The UCC annually channels more than $3 million dollars through One Great Hour of Sharing to humanitarian needs in the world.”[8]

You are a 5 by 5 church that means through special collections you are reaching out across borders that are social, economic, and cultural.  We are telling the world we may be small as a community church but we are part of something huge that is making a difference in the world.  In the same way we can do that right here.

The bird house project is a great opportunity to reach out to our neighbors.  Tell them who we are, what we are doing, and invite them to come visit and maybe even stay for coffee and some conversation.  Do you know the number one reason people come to church and stay??  Because they are invited.  Because someone went past their fears and insecurities and say …Hey I would love you to join me this Sunday and become a part of a wonderful community.

When was the last time you went and told someone we are doing such and such in our church?  The Samaritan woman ran and told her whole village about one conversation.  We are making a difference in this world as a denomination and we are making a difference in this community as a congregation now all we have to do is tell people about it!

Spread the Good news.  There is plenty of water in the well!

---

[1] Thomas R. Steagald, The Samaritan Woman and Nicodemus, February 23, 2013, accessed March 13, 2017, http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/741/the-samaritan-woman-and-nicodemus.

[2] Kendra Haloviak, The wedding at the well, Januarary 2014, accessed March 13, 2017, https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2014/01/the-wedding-at-the-well.

[3] Steagald, The Samaritan Woman and Nicodemus.

[4] Haloviak, The Wedding at the Well.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] UCC.org, One Great Hour of Sharing _About, 2017, accessed March 13, 2017, http://www.ucc.org/oghs_about.