With our routines and world upended by the Shelter in Place Order that affects all of California, we are looking for ways to stay connected during a mandate to physically stay apart from one another. This is a continuation of our time together, even though we’re in different spaces.
Opening Hymn • His Eye is on the Sparrow • Page 82, Chalice Hymnal
Opening Prayer
Lay Leader: Chris Williams
God of power,
you uphold us in times of persecution
and strengthen us to meet the trials of faithful witness.
As you delivered us from death
through our baptism in Christ
and the victory of his resurrection
send us forth to proclaim that glorious redemption,
so that the world may claim
the freedom of forgiveness
and new life in you. Amen.
Psalm 69 • But as For Me, O God •
Tithes and Offerings
Checks can be mailed to:
Grace Community Church
C/O Rene Horton
P.O. Box 368
Auberry, CA 93602
Holy Scripture • Jeremiah 20:7-13 • Romans 6:1b-11 • Matthew 10:24-39
Lay Leader: Chris Williams
Children’s Time
Coloring Page Based on Psalm 86
Church at Prayer and The Lord’s Prayer
All are invited to email me prayer requests for next week’s prayer, or to get in touch any time during the week. We are in the midst of an unprecidented global event, and I am available as a compassionate ear if you find you need to talk through what’s going on.
Hymn • It is Well with My Soul • Page 561, Chalice Hymnal
The Message
Sermon Transcript
Father’s Day is a tricky one to preach. Just like Mother’s Day, it’s loaded with hidden heartaches and traumas at every corner. It’s tempting to just gloss over the fact that today is a big Hallmark holiday and cut straight to the gospel this morning. Of course, the folks who came up with the Revised Common Lectionary must have had a sense of humor. This week’s Matthew reading won’t fall on Father’s day every three-year cycle, but wow, when it does, it makes things kind of awkward, don’t you think? “For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Um, okay.
These words are kind of harsh. We tend to hold family up on a pedestal. When it comes to making choices, often when tasked with choosing a certain path over the wishes of our families, we weigh heavily the repercussions of such an action. We don’t rock the boat over Thanksgiving dinner when Uncle Steve makes xenophobic comments. We keep our dreams to ourselves because our mom has been pushing for us to go into a sensible career for our whole lives. In America, we talk a lot about family values, and there are several iterations of this that use the word “family” as a coded way to push a religious or political agenda. Focus on the Family, Traditional Family Values, etc, are all things we’ve heard of in Christian contexts, and are often used to prop up heteropatriachal values and undercut the validity of families that are structured differently than the norm. When we begin to understand that by placing such a high value on family as an impenetrable structure, we have created an idol, it’s easier to understand how Jesus’ words could apply to us today.
In his time, family meant stability, security. Family was the way you got by and knew you had a future. As they mentioned in the Pulpit Fiction podcast, family was your 401k. They were your social status, this is how you had your wealth, these were the people in your immediate circle. Strong family ties meant a more comfortable, predictable, status-quo-y life. To say that he has come to set children against parents isn’t to give kids license to quarrel with their parents, even though my five year old would love that loophole. It is, in actuality, a call to be profoundly uncomfortable, vulnerable, and thus, completely open to God. Jesus isn’t anti-family, but he is aware that when we are more worried about filial piety and not upsetting Grandma we make for sloppy bearers of the Word. Especially since often we are not given easy tasks as Christians. Our role as followers of Christ will often set us against the world we live in, it will ask us to speak up on the side of love and justice when we’re in a room full of people who think differently. It will demand of us to speak truth even though truth won’t always fit into the polite, people-pleasing model our parents would prefer us to follow. It’s not easy to stand in the truth with people we don’t have any relationship to—how many times have you ever nodded along with a rant from a near-stranger just because it’s easier than saying your feelings on the matter? I did this just this week because I didn’t have to capacity to argue with someone on the phone about why they should care about other people. It’s hard, and when that person we’re engaged in conversation with is also family, it makes navigating those conversations even harder.
There is a serious cost that comes with following Jesus Christ. Becoming Christian isn’t quite like waving a magic wand and Poof!, all your troubles will be gone. You never have to walk alone through those troubles, but there will be toil. There will be controversy. There will be challenges to face that you’d honestly rather not have to deal with.
The Prophet Jeremiah laments some of those costs of being one who follows God. In our reading we heard an exposed, vulnerable lament which seems accusatory and shocking that Jeremiah would be so bold when addressing God. But we read it, and hear someone who is speaking God’s truths and only come up against mockery, derision, and humiliation. His friends laugh at him, and they’re waiting for him to slip up, to stumble, and he wants to give up, to stop speaking truth. He is tired of being set up for failure by God, again and again. But even as he swears he’s done with this prophet business, he can tell he won’t be able to keep hi mouth closed for very long. God burns within him. The words must come out. Jeremiah is no stranger to this later call to place God over all else. Does he like it? No. Does he argue with God over it? Yes. Does God abandon him for being mad about the frustrating situation he finds himself in?
Of course not. God rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked. God is beside Jeremiah like a “dread warrior.” God is dogged in the way we are always supported and accompanied.
Will things turn out the way we envisioned them when we decide to take the path God lays out for us? Not always. Will our words get twisted around and taken out of context? Likely.
Are the risks and the costs of discipleship worth it? We might find ourselves asking that question from time to time. If we can learn anything from the example Jeremiah sets out for us, it’s that we can bring anything to God, no matter how borderline blasphemous it might be. God is our closest confidant. If we are harboring doubt within, God know it’s there anyway. When we openly lament, question, accuse God of the bait-and-switch when we speak truth to power and find ourselves humiliated, we give God an opportunity to respond, we just have to be courageous enough to listen to the answer we are given.
The Gospel, when applied to our lives, has the potential to disrupt our relationships. It has radical asks of us that will push us past our comfort zones. It will cause us to look at the world in a different way than many of our friends and family members. While keeping in relationship with one another is essential, our relationships must be honest, and unafraid. We must weigh the consequences of making people uncomfortable when we see that discrimination, racism, hatred, and bigotry of all kinds are rampant. So I leave you with this question, what injustices are you willing to accept to avoid discomfort? Wrestle with it, take it to God in a Jeremiah-style lament. Really assess how this sits with you. In which ways do you need to learn to become comfortable with discomfort? May God strengthen you in tough conversations, help your voice to be strong even when it will most certainly go unheard, and reassure you to speak up anyway. You are called by Christ to shake things up, and you will never be left abandoned for standing in God’s truth.
Closing Hymn • Rejoice Ye, Pure in Heart • Page 15, Chalice Hymnal