Bring what is valuable about the past into a new future
Bringing Forward What’s Behind
a sermon by Rev. J. Christy Ramsey
Audio from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church parking lot on August 30, 2020
edited from a flawless transcription made by edigitaltranscriptions; all errors are mine.
Sermons also available free on iTunes
Phone, glasses, Hearphones, and once my brother Tim. That is the answer to the question, “What do you go back for?” If I leave my phone, my glasses, or even this morning my Hearphones, my hearing aids, I go back for them and get them. And one time, on the way to a very memorable church service, I left my brother Tim, and we went back for him. What do you go back for? What do you go back for to bring into the present and take with you into the future?
I gave out notecards to some of you, I hope you got them, it’s a Sankofa bird on the front. You can take a look at it there. It’s very small here. But I hope you got yours. If you look closely, it might remind you of those geese that are always over there at the high school and the park, Oh, my gosh. But it’s not. It’s a Sankofa bird. And if you see, it’s reaching back to get an egg to bring forward into the future. It’s part of a Native American and Mexican tradition, and African. And what it means is that it is okay to stop and go back to the past and bring something of value forward. It also says that that is something you should do, that that is something that is noble and expected, that you will stop what you’re doing and figure out what part of the past you want to bring into the future.
We are at an amazing, unique time. I don’t know, I hope I can say this in front of you all, but it was official church communication. I wanted to go to one of the churches in our denomination, not the Lutherans – God bless the Lutherans. I went and I said, “Hey, can I come to your church?” And they took it to the committee, and the committee’s first question was, will he sanitize the bathrooms? Apparently they have laid off their custodian, and anybody that goes in, it’s do-it-yourself cleaning. What a strange and wonderful time we are living in, to get that question when you want to go to church.
It used to be that the status quo, the way things always have been, was the one thing that could not be vetoed. That’s the one thing that could not be changed. You almost have to have a unanimous – a consensus to do anything different. You know this is difficult in churches, even in society.
But the coronavirus and the quarantine has vetoed the status quo. Something that we said was impossible has been done. I remember driving by closed casinos in Nevada. Oh, my gosh. You know, snowballs in hell are nothing compared to a dark casino in Nevada. Who would believe such a change? This is the time where we pause, like the bird, in going forward, and look into our past and say, “Well, that’s all messed up. The way of the future is not the old ways. What are we going to bring forward into the future?”
These are very challenging verses we have today, as much as they were [horn honking]. Thank you, amen. As much as they were back in the time of Jesus. Imagine, if you will, not the hospitality of Romans being preached. And you say to yourself, well, that’s hard to do. That’s difficult to do. All these people with the politics and the division and the different ideas and the fights over the mask and the statues and the marches and the counter protests and the shootings. How can we be hospitable? And gentle? And welcoming? God just doesn’t know what we face.
But remember when these were written. The folks reading this were under armed occupation as a conquered people by a foreign power. I don’t know what you think the level of our situation is now, but it’s not that bad. And yet the Scripture still was written, these directives still were given to those people. If they could do it, we can do it.
Have you thought about what this would play out with, like today? I mean, if Peter and Jesus were here today and had this discussion, how would it work out? Have you guys heard of Facebook? I am convinced Facebook has both brought together and blown apart more relationships than five generations of gossips. It is an amazing engine to both bring people together! I mean, I’ve got high school friends that comment on my stuff. I haven’t seen them in, well, a long time.
It also blows people apart. You know that meme they shared about the politician that you liked? Remember that mean thing they said about people you care about? Amen. Have you unfriended a friend on Facebook over that? I can imagine it would go something like this with Peter and Jesus on Facebook. You know, it’d be Facebook. It’d be Jesus’s page. You know, I imagine it’d be very pastoral, lot of pastel colors maybe, maybe a sunrise. Couple hills maybe in the background. He’d be there smiling. And his post might be, “Taking the Jerusalem challenge. I know, I know it’s difficult. But I’m going to J-Town. It’s tough, but it’s something I need to do. I’m going to go there and protest. And come with me, I’m going to make them hear what I have to say.”
Have you seen that post? Can you imagine Peter – and God bless Peter, he didn’t post directly on the wall. That’s not good. Don’t do that, folks. He did a message to Jesus, you know, with the little Messenger app that pops up on your phone. You say, what is that thing? He says, “Hey, Jesus, I forbid you to go to J-Town. That’s not a good idea. Have you heard what’s going on there? Have you heard about the protest? Have you heard about the violence? People getting killed there, Jesus. Don’t go, Jesus. You shouldn’t be going there.” And Jesus, I imagine Jesus does this. Maybe he doesn’t, but I’m thinking. Jesus sends him one of them little faces, one with the devil horns on it; you know? And that’s it. Just devil get behind me.
Have you had awkward, perhaps relationship-breaking Facebook conversations about what to bring forward? We can’t leave this behind. We’ve got to leave this brutality. We’ve got to leave this racism. We’ve got to leave the Confederate statues. We’ve got to leave this oppression. We’ve got to leave this two system where there’s one justice for those that are white; and those that are not, they get another system. We’ve got to leave that all behind. And then you’ve got other people saying, no, no, no, we’ve got to bring that forward. That’s our heritage. That’s part of what makes our country great. You’re wrong. Things are great. Things are wonderful. We need everything. We’ve got bring that forward. And there’s a great tug of war, just like that bird, about what to bring forward and what to leave behind.
We make these choices all the time. All the time. And it’s not about erasing history. It’s what we choose to bring forward. Imagine, if you will, after – I don’t know, I don’t want to get in trouble here. But a year, a year out of the church? I don’t know. Don’t quote me on this. It’s going to be a while. But at the church, you went in there, and you found out that some people were honoring your heritage by putting up a statue of Judas, and another great big statue of Satan in the church because, you know, that’s history. That’s heritage. That’s in the Scriptures. We can’t forget that. I think you’d say we don’t need to bring that forward, brother. Sister, I don’t think we need that in the church. We remember Satan. We see him a lot out in the world every day. We don’t need a big old statue of him in our faith.
Well, Christy, you gave us the problem, didn’t give us any solution. Hate when that happens. What are we going to do? How can we do this?
Short Wave is a wonderful daily podcast about science, very entertaining, about 10 minutes long. I just binge through them, read, listen to them while I’m driving somewhere. I don’t go anywhere anymore, but so 10 minutes takes me a couple trips. But they said to get yourself out of this depression and get yourself out of this funk, and to get yourself out of the terrible place that you might be in in this time, two things are important: control, and recognizing that the present times or situation is temporary. Control and temporary. So you focus on what you can do.
What is in my control? What can I do? I can’t stop the pandemic, but I can help other people. I can make masks. I can give money to the folks that don’t have it. I can go out and support the workers that are out of work by going through all the rigmarole to do carryout and try to give them some money. If I have a place, I can maybe help out somebody that doesn’t have a place. Maybe I don’t collect the rent this month if I’m a landlord. Maybe I support a little help for those that are helpless. What is in my control? What can I do?
In Jesus’s case, he says, you know, there’s a lot of evil out there. There’s a lot of trouble out there. There’s a lot of oppression out there. There’s a lot of sin out there. I can do something about that. I can go and proclaim God’s love, God’s compassion, God’s inclusion. And I can tell it and tell it until I’m dead. That’s what I can do. I can’t stop all evil. I can’t control other people. But I can live a worthy life full of service and healing and love, as long as I’m here. That’s in my control. That’s where God wants me to go. So the one is control. What is God calling me to do, not what God is calling those other folks to do. Not what I think they ought to do. It’s with God, what is God calling me to do? I can do that. What can I do? Get some control in your life by that.
And remember this is temporary. As Christians we know that we have a heavenly home that is eternal in the heavens, and we’re just here temporarily. So everything that happens is temporary, and most temporary is this time of pandemic. There will be a time when this pandemic is over. I don’t know when. It’s a race between when the pandemic is over and Jesus comes. I don’t know which is going to come first. What I’m thinking is that it’ll be a sure sign, if the Overby House opens, that’d be the end times. That I’m sure of. Jesus has a reservation there first night.
It’s temporary, friends. And you know, Jesus did this with Peter, too. I don’t know if you’ve been doing a friendship study, looking at the timeline between Jesus and Peter on Facebook. But my gosh, those two are always getting into it. You know, they need some couples counseling, those two. You see them going back and forth. You know, because Peter is showboating. Just last week, jumping off the boat, or a couple weeks ago, jumping off the boat, walking on that water like showboating around. Come on, Peter, give it a rest. This is Jesus’s moment. You know, why are you horning in on that? You don’t even do it well. And Jesus sighs and picks him up afterwards.
And then he had a good time, a good spot. He says, “Jesus, you are the Messiah.” He confessed him as Lord. Good times. And now we’ve got this one, where he stops him from doing what he needs to do, what he wants to do, what he’s called to do, and gets in his way and tries to control Jesus. Have you done that? Have you tried to control Jesus and say, “That’s not the way, Jesus. Oh, no, no, no, no. We’re not going there. We’re not going out in the parking lot.” Heck, no. I love the Lord, but not that much. I need my pew and my cushion and my roof. Can somebody get a roof.
Have you had days like that? Maybe over more significant issues? But Jesus sticks with him and even sticks with him when he betrays him and denies him. Spoiler alert, this is coming up. Peter denies Jesus, betrays him. “I do not know the man.” Right when he needed a friend, someone to stand with him. Through all that drama, through all that back and forth, Jesus stays with Peter. Because he knows that bad days are temporary. And somehow he saw good in Peter. And the last time we see them together they reconcile, where Jesus asks him if he loves him three times, bringing back the three times Peter denied him. And Peter says, “You know I do. I love you, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
So you had a bad time. So maybe you denied Jesus. I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe you did some things you weren’t supposed to do. Maybe you have some regrets. I’m telling you now, the answer, the way out is to recognize that was temporary, and that you have control to do good and to be better. You can be like Jesus and Peter. And even though you had ups and downs and troubles and upsetness, if you love the Lord, there’s a way out. If you love the Lord enough to take care of other people. If you love the Lord to take care of those he cares about. If you love the Lord enough to be as hospitable as we hear Paul telling the folks under Roman rule to be hospitable, and kind, and to forego vengeance, but leave room for God.
I had a friend. His name’s Randy. Randy was in Kiwanis with me in Akron, Ohio. And that guy had a heart that would not end. I mean, he was the one, if you had a Kiwanis service project, he would come two days early and prep it and bring supplies that he bought out of his own pocket, wouldn’t take money. The day he was there he would come early and stay late. And he would bring his entire family and friends to help. And then he would clean up afterwards and come back the next day and finish up what wasn’t done.
But then Facebook. I swear every Russian meme that ever came across that was heartless and mean and untrue, Randy had to repeat and had to post. The first couple dozen times I said, “Randy, what are you doing, dude?” I would say, “Hey, check this out, this article. It’s just not true. It’s not at all. It’s just trying to make you angry. If you’re angry when you see a meme, stop and think that the purpose of this meme and this post is not for information. The purpose of this post is to make me angry. And don’t let it do that.” We had some back and forth, and he says, “I just can’t help it. I just can’t help it.” So I unfriended him. I just – my blood pressure couldn’t take it. And I didn’t want to keep going after him and arguing with him.
But what I’m going to do today, these are little cards, these little note cards. And I’ve got some homework for you. I mean, you’ve got time; right? Everything’s crazy. Everything’s closed. I’m going to write Randy. I’m going to write Randy and see if we can get some relationship back. Because that was temporary, you know. Those posts were maybe even unthinking. And I know he’s a good and kind man, although his choice in candidates is just godawful. But he’s a good guy. He’s a loving father, faithful husband, hard worker in his own business, and generous to a fault.
I’m going to write him this card, and I’m going to try to get back with him because I think this is what the Scripture says to us. Leave room for God to take vengeance. Leave room. Welcome everyone, and let God correct them and get them right. Don’t tell Jesus not to go to somewhere he’s not welcome. Don’t tell Jesus you shouldn’t be concerned about those people. You should stay away from them.
Do you have a Randy in your life? Maybe family? Maybe a friend that, in this time of division and polarization and every issue under the sun – who would have thought we’re arguing about the Post Office? Can you give me a break? Can we just get a buy on the Post Office this year. Anyone you having problems with? Maybe you have a problem with me. Maybe have a problem with Chad. I don’t know. Maybe you’re here because you have a problem with your church or pastor.
I’m telling you, I’m a Stated Clerk of the Presbytery, and I sort of have my eyes on the churches throughout Nevada. And pastors are quitting. Pastors are going in the hospital with stress diseases. It is a horrible, awful time to be a pastor. You think you’re upset about the way the church is going? Imagine if you were the pastor. Maybe if you’ve got no one in your life that you want to reconcile with, no one in your life that you think you need a better relationship with, write it to Chad. I write to Pastor, and I get a note back, “Oh, thank you, you don’t know how much I needed that.” You know, what a difference it made.
Our Scriptures today say that we can make room for others that disagree with us. Our Scriptures today say even when they’re going the wrong way and we’re absolutely convinced that they’re going the wrong way, they can still be related to us. And what a message, what a time for us to hear that.
Friends, what are we going to bring forward in the future? This is something that we need to reflect on. We need to consider. We need to talk together. We need to make room for one another. What are we going to turn back and bring forward? How is our church life and our church worship going to be different going forward? Is it going to be more technology? Are we going to have more opportunities for people to gather, rather than at a certain time and place in a certain building in a certain seat in a certain location? Is this going to be a great renaissance for the church? A great awakening and expansion? A transformation of what it means to be God’s people? I hope so. I hope so.
It’s up to us what we bring forward. We have a great opportunity now to take stock of, well, what is essential? What is necessary? What is loving? What makes room for people? What does hospitality look like in this day and age? My first boss in a spiritual position as a chaplain left to move on, and she said this: “I do not go alone, and I leave no one behind.” I do not go alone. I leave no one behind. As we go through this time, into a new time, imagine what you want to bring forward, who you want to bring forward. And remember you do not go alone. And remember to leave no one behind.
Amen.