Matthew 7:24-26
I want to remind us about where we are in the sermon enterprise right now. Last summer/fall we "read" After Jesus: Before Christianity over several months. Through that we learned that the earliest Jesus communities (in the first two centuries) were a diverse and loosely related number of small groups who lived by Jesus' teachings in a variety of ways. Their common focus, which they lived out with endless variation, was how Jesus' vision for the world made their own lives better when they put it into practice. As we finished that, I began to wonder: if we put Jesus' teachings into practice in our century, what would that look like? Which led me to the question: What did Jesus teach? What were the principles and practices that the first followers remembered and tried to implement?
We've been hanging out since then in the Gospel according to Matthew because it's the source of what's called The Sermon on the Mount, which is a collection of what people remembered about Jesus' teachings gathered into a single literary device- a sermon. They were written down two generations after Jesus died, so by the time they were gathered, they had already withstood the test of time. If we assume that a preacher tells you what he or she really wants you to know or do, then The Sermon on the Mount become what early followers thought Jesus really wanted them to know and especially do.
I'm finding the teachings a little repetitious. Jesus wants us to love God by loving one another. He admonishes us to feed and clothe people, to share resources fairly, to be just and inclusive and compassionate and merciful. This doesn't seem to me like rocket science and it makes me wonder why in 2000 years we haven't come much closer to making it the heart of our society than when he first suggested it. In fact, global culture as a whole may be further away from this vision of life than the small groups who hid themselves in plain sight and tried to help each other live good lives.
Let's remind ourselves that these early Jesus folk weren't about creating a new religion or reforming an old religion. They were about making life better for themselves and others. Their faith didn't focus on what they believed so much as what they did with and for one another. They trusted the teachings of Jesus to describe a better way of living and they trusted each other to put those teachings into practice.
Today's scripture says that those teachings are rock solid. If you build your life on their foundation, it will be strong. It will support you through the storms of life. You can rely on it.
This week I read a new novel by Kristin Hanna, The Women, which tells about the Vietnam war and the experiences of the women who volunteered as nurses there. It's a tough read because that was a terrible war. It mangled bodies and it mangled psyches. It took a long time for our country to honor the people who fought the first war we lost in our history. Reading the novel, I was reminded of those times- my high school and college years. It was about war and it was about protests at home. Some of those protests against the war were made by those who had fought it. It was tangled up with the civil rights movement and the protests and riots of people standing up for racial justice. It was the beginning of the women's movement as women proved they had important knowledge and skill and wanted to be able to use it.
As I read I wondered about all those movements which had a vision for a better world. What happened to them? I remember when church meetings passed resolutions calling for racial equity and women's gatherings called for peace. I remember when our government worked to increase justice and not roll back rights. It made me nostalgic for that time, and sad that we quit too soon. was tempted to be discouraged.
Then I remembered that the earliest Jesus followers had no illusions that they could change their world. They had no political power. They were just keeping their heads down and trying not to be noticed. And they were doing what they could to live like Jesus.
This week I took one of our refugee friends to Spectra Health for an eye exam. While I was there, several staff people were helping a man who had come in from the street. He needed help with a housing issue. He didn't have an appointment. They called him by name. They adjusted their schedules so he could see the most knowledgeable folks for his situation. They were kind and respectful. They treated him like Jesus would have treated him.
I was still waiting when I got a call from a school social worker about a young man who needed to move out of his home. He couldn't get into an apartment until Monday. Would we pay for a hotel for the weekend? Of course we would! The next day she called to say we wouldn't be needed. One of his friends' families invited him to stay with them. They welcomed him.
I realized about that same time that I was going to be late to take another friend to work. I called my daughter and she stepped up to that plate. I double scheduled the refugee appointments needed for this coming week. One text and someone had taken half of that load.
Wednesday Kids are thinking about ways to help the earth and our community. We have 3 families involved in the program. Every one of them has a parent or a friend who knows how to plant for pollinators, native plants or medicinal herbs. They gave Mary the right website to learn what the kids needed to know. They offered to come next time and share knowledge.
Thinking about all these things in just one week, I realized that public movements may be quiet right now, but there's a lot happening to shape the world by Jesus' vision. People are kind and respectful, willing to help a stranger, acting on strong principles of community. People are remaking the world on purpose by the way they live. Surely if we are surrounded by so many examples of good, the vision of Jesus is being made real today.