Henrietta United Church of Christ

Rev. David Inglis November 5, 2006

Luke 13:18-21

I have a gnawing feeling in my gut that I just can’t seem to shake. It’s partly the war in Iraq that has no end in sight. It’s partly the erosion of our rights and freedoms , as with the Associated Press reporter who was sent to Guantanamo without charges or the church in California whose tax exempt status is being threatened by the IRS for preaching against the war. It’s partly the systematic selling out of all levels of the government to special interests and big money, with no real regard for what’s best for the public. It’s partly the reports that global warming is happening faster than most of the projections, and that our time is running out to reverse it before it’s too late. It’s partly an uneasiness about the new electronic voting machines that are so easy to manipulate. It just feels to me like our great society of liberty and justice for all, of vision and ingenuity and optimism, is rotting from the inside out. The more I learn about what’s happening, the worse my gut feels.

Has anybody else’s gut been bothering them lately? So what do you do with the frustration, powerlessness, and even despair? What do you suppose Jesus would do if he were alive today? Join a political party and run for office? Organize mass demonstrations? Start a revolution? Tell us to focus on heaven instead of earth?

Don’t you suppose Jesus had to deal with that gnawing feeling in his gut when he was alive? He saw how the arrogant Roman Empire rolled over the rights of ordinary people, squeezed everything it could from them, and manipulated the Jewish leaders into keeping their own people submissive and scared.

So what did Jesus do about it? He went about laying the foundation for a new society within the old society ie: new kingdom within the old kingdom. He called it the kingdom of God or reign of God. That’s what the parables in today’s scripture reading are about. The people who first heard Jesus’ parable about the mustard seed would probably have scowled at first, but then they would have laughed and starting nudging each other–if they had gotten the joke. Big empires like the Roman Empire had compared themselves to the majestic cedars of Lebanon, where birds of the air made their nests in their lofty branches. But Jesus says God’s kingdom is like . . . a scrubby shrub, the mustard plant? That’s an insult to God! Besides, we want a kingdom mighty enough to uproot that arrogant cedar of Lebanon and throw in on the fire. That’s why we would have seen scowls.

But then those farmers would have thought about all the mustard plants they had tried to weed out of their fields. If you have one and let it go, it’s not long before you have 10, and then they’re spreading everywhere. Once they get started, you can’t stop them. That’s when the scowls turned to chuckles and nudging and looks of “aha!” “That’s what we can do!” you could see them thinking. “We may not be able to topple the mighty Roman Empire. But we can spread the seeds of another kind of kingdom, where birds can find a home and feed on the seeds of God’s truth. Some day that big cedar of Lebanon will grow old and fall from its own weight, as all trees do. But by that time, the mustard trees will have taken over the landscape! We’re not powerless after all!”

And you know, isn’t that exactly what happened? The Roman Empire is long gone. But here we are today, one of those mustard trees, providing a spiritual home for all of us birds here, offering nourishment on the seeds of God’s truth. Maybe in times like these we need to refocus on Jesus’ dream for us. Jesus envisioned his followers forming communities of faith, hope, love and joy, that would create a different kind of society than the dominant one that’s based on pride, greed, power, and fear. We’re to be like the leaven the woman kneaded into the three measures–these weren’t three measuring cups, but three baskets–of flour, until all of it was leavened–until that whole big batch looked and felt and tasted good.

So is there something we can do in the face of a world out of joint? Of course there is! We are already doing it. We are already creating the world as it’s meant to be.

Think about it. We live in a world that wants to define and divide people into us and them. Either you’re for us or you’re against us. We’re told we’re in a struggle of good people (us) and evildoers (those who don’t like us). The country is divided into red states and blue states. Political differences are polarized into left-wingers and right-wingers. And often God’s name is used to bolster one side against the other.

How tragic that is, because at every turn, we see Jesus calling a loud-mouthed blind man over to ask him what he wanted Jesus to do for him, or calling a tax collector down from a tree to have supper with him, or talking theologically with a woman of ill repute, or welcoming children into his lap. Whenever Jesus encountered a barrier that people had erected against each other or between God and some of God’s people, Jesus reached right through that wall and drew the excluded people to himself.

So don’t you imagine that Jesus smiles on us when he sees us healing the divisions in the world by reaching out and welcoming the stranger, offering help to those who are struggling, listening to the stories of those who are wounded, stretching ourselves to accommodate those with special needs, or listening to different points of view? When we do that, we are creating a different kind of order than we see in the world. Right in the midst of the tension and strife and mistrust that’s so rampant in our world, we are creating a community of peace, of love, and of joy. We ourselves find ourselves holding the mustard seeds of a hopeful future.

So Jesus’ dream for us is that we not only cultivate a community that is rooted in Christ’s unconditional love, but that we also plant the seeds of acceptance, compassion, peace, and forgiveness in our homes and neighborhoods and workplaces and society. It’s our hands that hold those seeds, and Jesus dreams of our hands spreading them into the world.

Here’s another way we’re living Jesus’ dream for his followers. Many of you have shared your stories with me of how you found this church, and how it has become a life-giving haven for your soul. I sense that this church has been a part of God’s dream for the growth of each of your spirits. Nothing humbles me and motivates me more than that awareness. So I think that part of Jesus’ dream for our church is that we all keep remembering that you, and every person who comes through our doors, has an infinitely precious soul whose life journeys have brought us all here together as part of our spiritual journey towards God.

So we live out Jesus’ dream for us when we make regular worship, prayer or meditation, spiritual reading, and generosity a natural part of our lives. We live out Jesus’ dream for us when we sense when someone is struggling, and we reach out and offer simply a listening ear or an arm on the shoulder, not trying to fix things for them, but supporting their spirit as it finds its way through. We live out Jesus’ dream for us when we as a church respect each soul’s uniqueness, and don’t preach canned doctrines or prescribe canned answers, but appreciate the variety of ways that God is still speaking to us and calling each of us onward. We live out Jesus’ dream for us when we come together in groups and ask our questions, express our doubts, share our discoveries, and encourage each other on our journeys. We live out Jesus’ dream for us when we remember to see each person, even those whose human side annoys us or pushes our buttons, as a fellow soul struggling, despite their fears and their wounds, to learn to live more fully. We live out Jesus’ dream for us when we courageously speak the truth in love, when we stand for truth and justice without attacking individuals, when we wrestle with new perspectives that stretch us, challenge us, and require us to grow.

Can’t you see Jesus smiling on us when we work to create a church where birds of all kinds can come and find shelter for their souls and nourishment for their spirits, and sing their songs together? If this attitude spread into the world, wouldn’t the problems that threaten the world begin to resolve, because there would be no mistrust, fear, judgment, and exploitation to feed them?

There are lots of ways I see us fulfilling the dream Jesus had for his followers. This is the time of year when we think about what it means to be stewards–which means caretakers or managers of what God has entrusted to us. Today’s scripture reminds us that we’re not just stewards of a church building and programs and mission projects. We are stewards of the seeds of a new order that sooner or later the world will have to discover if humanity is going to live together in peace, justice and sustainability. We are one of Christ’s mustard trees. Our souls need a healthy, growing, fruitful tree to provide shelter and nourishment. But it’s bigger than us. The world needs the vision of what is possible when love leads instead of fear, when truth is honored instead of deception, when unity is embraced instead of domination, when shared generosity replaces greedy competition. Our souls need that. Every soul needs that. The world’s soul needs that.

So this week we will be deciding how much of ourselves we will invest in this precious community of faith, hope, love and joy. Maybe you can take on the challenge of investing at least $5 a week more in this new order than the old order, to help cover the costs of the exciting new ministries that Martha will make possible. Maybe there are there things you can think of to do that would help our church grow in its ministries. Maybe there are gifts and abilities that God is calling you to risk sharing. Maybe there are ways that you can plant mustard seeds more intentionally in your world. There are no canned requirements here. Each person needs to discern what God is calling them to do to open to the flow of God’s abundant love through their lives and into the world.

As I was preparing this message, I kept having a neat feeling. The more I thought about what Jesus’ dream for this church would be, the more I realized how many ways we are already fulfilling that dream. HUCC is in so many ways a dream that is really coming true. And you know, that sure does a lot to counter the gnawing feeling in my gut about how bad the world is. I experience every day through you how good the world can be.

Anthropologist Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Jesus’ dream is for us to be that small group of thoughtful, faithful people. ...for us to be the prolific mustard plant. ...for us to be the ones who knead the leaven of hope into the lump of the world. Is that mission worth investing our time, talent and treasure in? Our doing just that is Jesus dream of hope for the world.