Sermon for June 22, 2008

“Hanging on… Letting Go” Rev. Shannon Mang

Matthew 10: 24-39

David Guilliano- “Don’t be afraid” is what he’s been telling the United Church

we are paralysed by our fear

We are afraid of most everything… and has it not ever been thus?? There has always been the market for apocalyptic- end-times paranoia

there has always been a belief that we are living in the end times- that the world, as we know it, is about to end

Empire gets a lot of mileage out of maintaining the fear- for it is easier to control a population that feels powerless

-in my 20’s I didn’t think that I could actually choose to have children …. I was filled with fear about either dying in a nuclear blast or worse- being one of the survivors to try and continue life in a nuclear winter

- despite that very real fear it turns out that both of my pregnancies were carefully planned (and the first one was particularly fruitful with two babies being conceived) … choosing to have children has been powerful lessons in hope!

-being pregnant with the twins was a symbol of moving from fear to hope—my father was dying as I was carrying the twins; he died June 6 and the girls were born July 20- In the last days of my father’s life I remember feeling this heightened sense of reality- the lines between birth and death blurred as I saw my father struggle to leave his cancer ridden body behind and be birthed into welcoming arms of God; and I grieved that my wee babies were preparing to leave the protective temple of my womb… that they were going to die to that safe existence and be birthed into an uncertain world… and into the welcoming arms of their mother and father and extended family- they were preparing to enter a world that already loved them and worried about them.

-in the holy days of saying goodbye to my father and saying hello to my daughters I became acutely aware of my world ending, and of being born anew into hope

-I was aware that even though we live with the veneer of feeling in control of our lives—our worlds end – and begin every day… every minute… with every breath

-we all have personal experiences where our lives have been devastated in one second- with tragedy being visited upon us; and where we have been utterly caught off guard with joy- perhaps falling ridiculously in love- or as it was for my friends- being just a normal married couple one day and the next being parents of a newborn baby.

-as world community we have had these experiences too- some of you remember clearly what life was like living through a World War… then having it come to an end; many have lived through the cold war.. and the end of those realities.

… for me- deeply powerful endings were: In the Summer of ’89 when the Berlin Wall came down, and in the winter of 1990 when Nelson Mandela was released from prison . With those two events I dared to hope for a future for my babies.

-in more recent history- we all remember what we were doing the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 and we live with the residual fear of terrorist next door, and next door, on the other side of the world

– daily we see evidence of a warming climate- changeable, unpredictable and violent weather… alongside of new innovations that make it possible for entire communities to go carbon neutral and growing community consciousness to learn how to step lightly and lovingly on this gift of creation

So- what does all of this have to do with the reading from Matthew? This chapter is the turning point in Matthew’s account of the ministry of Jesus. Up to this point we’ve been introduced to Jesus and we’ve been seeing him doing the healing and teaching with a few close disciples at his side and crowds gathering to be a part of this phenomenon. In chapter 10 we see Jesus turning those few close followers out into the countryside to do as they’ve witnessed him do- they are the teachers preaching the coming of the reign of God , and they are the bearers of that teaching as they drive out demons and heal the sick and of the gathering crowds.

-Jesus has gathered those few completely committed followers in close to give them the bad news/good news of their choice

[this is happening on two levels- the story and the community that the story is being told to… experiencing persecution and martyrdom—from family; synagogue and empire. The writer of the Gospel is directly addressing those who have lived through the realities of birthing the reign of God into their world- they have communities of spirit-filled people who have been healed and made whole- who have died to their old lives and who are living in joy with others who are followers of the Way of Christ. And, they are also living with the realities of the cost of living in the Way of Jesus- the risen Christ. They are not longer welcome in the households of their birth- their families are shocked and dismayed by their choices and have rejected them. They have been shamed in their worshipping communities- they have been shunned and cannot go back. The Roman authorities fear these pockets of crazy people who have no respect for proper codes of conduct- these people who gather and mix the classes together without distinction- men and women, slave and master all eating at the same table and calling each other sister and brother. The Romans have tried to stomp out gatherings of these fanatics- they have imprisoned and killed many but it is like trying to stop a brush fire- the fanatics called the People of the Way keep popping up and burning out of control. These are the people to whom this story is told. The story does not sugar coat the realities of what it will cost to be a follower of Jesus.]

-threat of the message is real—it always has been and always will be

-the message of Jesus to the disciples is that they must expect to be treated harshly… they can expect to get the same treatment as Jesus… they must expect to be crucified… if they are living out the reality of the Reign of God; Kingdom of God… and most recently translated as the Community of Empowerment- if they are living that message then the deaf will hear, the blind will see, the prisoner will go free and the powers of the age will do everything in their power to stop it- so the message to the followers is: expect to be killed for your efforts. But—if you have already died to your old life and given yourself to the Way of Jesus, then you have already experienced resurrection and there is nothing to fear.

I have two kinds of dreams that involve moving swiftly above solid ground- one I hate and one I love. The dream that I hate is one where I am on a swing or a trapeze and things start out alright- it is rather pleasant to swing gently above the ground- but then the swinging starts to get out of control and I realize that I cannot see what the swing is attached to and I am starting to swing higher and higher and when the swing stops going up it starts coming down and the ground flies up at me and I am sure that I am going to lose my grip and fall. As you might guess, I have this dream when I am feeling out of control of many aspects of my life.. it is a sign to me. The other dream- the one that I love to have is a dream where I am surprised with the gift of flight. Often the dream is very mundane- I’ll just going about my life when suddenly I realise that I am no longer walking about doing the boring things of my life—I am flying- just a bit off the ground- doing the boring things of my life. but, as soon as I realise that I a no longer bound to the earth and the laws of gravity- I am filled with an exhilaration- and I use this gift to fly higher and higher. In the swinging dream I know only fear- in the flying dream I know only joy. My life is a movement between these two dreams—times when my life is dictated by forces beyond my control and my very life feels threatened and times when I am released into the freedom of flight.

This passage acknowledges that to choose to be a follower of the Way of Jesus is to choose hard times- even death. But sometimes death can be very good news, since death is only a doorway that must be passed through in order to experience the new life that is on the other side. So this passage- in its good news/bad news way- is encouraging the church in all times and places to let go of the fear that keeps us from fully experiencing new life in Christ. In communities of the faithful, age after age after age – we have been encouraged to die to ourselves- die to the fears that hem us in- and live fully in Way of Christ. We are the twelve sent out to preach and teach the Way of the Risen One- to bring healing and wholeness to dark places… and to experience the resulting backlash of those whose power is threatened by others becoming fully alive.

I had the opportunity to sit and have a conversation with our moderator at Conference and it was by far the best 30 mins of the entire conference. We talked about life in the midst of a dying institution- a church struggling to both hang on to its past and birth new realities at the same time. The most powerful thing that David said to me was that the greatest gift the United Church has today is the gift that it is in fact dying… and the greatest challenge is for it to see this as a gift.

WE are invited into life- but to fully enter new life in Christ we are called to die to ourselves so that we might fully live in and through Christ. What freedom there is in letting go. For most of us this process is not a blinding conversion experience on the road to Damascus- as it was for the apostle Paul. It is a life long movement towards life- baby steps in letting go- so take heart. Have the courage to look at your life- and let it go- stop hanging on to the illusion that we are somehow in control… of anything… and let yourself go into the freedom of life in Christ.

May it be so.