WEBVTT 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:11.599 Let's pray together. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:20.000 All do you all see this? 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:21.360 The Lord be with you. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:24.480 And also with you, let us pray. 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:32.959 Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly. 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:41.439 Even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure. 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:48.480 Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:06:12.879 As you be exceeded, our children are invited to God before the Father shall be at the back of this for children in grade great and reading from Zechariah. 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:32.959 And it also said the word of the just one came to Zechariah saying, Thus says the ruler of the multitudes of heaven, true justice, shall you all administer just loving kindness and mother love? 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:37.040 Shall you all offer one to another? 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:45.920 And the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, and the one made poor through oppression. 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:49.120 You all must not oppress another. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:56.879 And wickedness of one person against another do not see in your heart. 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:10.560 Yet they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and clocked up their ears so as not to hear the law, so as not to hear. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:32.720 Thus a great wrath came from the sovereign of the vanguard of heaven. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:37.600 And it was just as when God called, they would not hear. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:50.639 So when they called, I would not hear, said the sovereign commander of the winged warriors, and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations who may knew or not know. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:20.319 Psalm ten, one to fourteen, we will read responsibly by the heart of earth. 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:25.279 Why compassionate one do you stand apart? 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:34.399 In arrogance the wicked harass the poor. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:53.200 The wicked to turn up their nose and do not see God. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.720 Their ways prosper all the time. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:04.000 Your judgments are on high beyond them. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:06.799 All their foods beyond them. 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:12.080 They say in their heart, We shall not be shaken. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:22.320 Cursing fills their mouths along with and deceit and oppression. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:31.759 They sit in ambush in the villages, in hiding places, they murder the innocent. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:40.320 They lie in wait in secret, like a lion in its dead. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:44.320 They lie in wait that they may snatch the four. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:58.960 They say in their heart, God has forgotten. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:14.960 Why do the wicked despise God? 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:28.480 Upon you the vulnerable and trust in themselves. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:31.360 Is faith able to say, if a sister or a brother is naked and lacks neighborhood, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, warm yourself, and eat your fill, and you all do not provide what is necessary for the body, what is the benefit of that? 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:36.559 And thus faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:41.919 Yet someone will say, Faith you have, faith and works I have. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:48.799 Show me your faith separately from your works, and I through my works will show you my faith. 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:52.159 You believe that God is one, you do well. 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:55.360 Even the demons believe and they tremble. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:12:02.240 You see that by works is a woman or a man shown to be righteous, and not by faith alone. 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:12.480 And likewise was not Rahab the prostitute by works also shown to be righteous when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road. 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:19.600 For just as a body without the spirit is dead, so then faith without works is also dead. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:21.679 The word of the Lord. 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:30.159 Jesus said to the women and men gathered around him at the temple, Truly, truly, I tell you all, the hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:37.039 For just as a living God has life within, just so God has granted the Son to have life with him. 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:42.879 And God has given the Son authority to render justice, because he is the Son of woman. 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:59.519 Now be astonished at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out those who have done good for the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil and the resurrection of judgment. 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:02.159 The gospel of the Lord. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:39.120 One of the things that's different about the women's lectionary for the whole church we're in year C, and one of the way that's different from the revised lectionary is that we're doing this back and forth business between Luke and John. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:49.200 And normally we would only really read John during Easter tide, and then we would hear stories about Jesus from Luke's gospel throughout the rest of the year. 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:58.559 I suspect, I haven't interviewed Wilka Afty who put this together, is that she's trying to get us to think about narrative stories. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:03.519 Last year we heard the story of Zacchaeus, right, which has characters and it unfolds. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:14.000 And then we're going to John and hearing Jesus, I don't want to say pontificate, but use theological language that sort of says, here's what underpins some of these stories. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:19.360 John is arguably the most theological of the four Gospelers. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:28.960 Jesus speaks in big blocks about what it all means, whereas in the other first three Gospels, the synoptics, usually Jesus does a thing and moves on. 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:31.039 So that's my sense. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:35.679 And there's something really interesting today about this bit that I'd like to. 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:37.440 It's very John, right? 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:39.519 This is very gospel of John. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:45.120 The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:58.080 And I think what John might be trying to communicate to the earliest Christians, that if we would just take our, for lack of a better word, I'll fly away, glasses off for a minute. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:16:59.360 Do you know that's all? 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.720 One glad morning when this life is over, I'll fly away. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:09.359 It embraces the idea that this physical world is a trap to the spirit, and one day we'll get out of the trap. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:15.519 If we could take this off for one second, we might be hearing what it is that John, I think, advised us to consider. 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:17.920 There are people who are dead right now. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:21.359 Figuratively. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:26.160 Dead in their shame, in their regret. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:29.599 There are people who are socially dead to us. 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:36.960 And resurrection is about having life now, as much as it is when our bodies are gone. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:37.759 Consider. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:41.200 Ah, here I go with the social justice talk again. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:48.720 Consider somebody who's on Megan's list because when they were 18, they had an intimate relationship with someone who was 17. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:51.519 They'll be on that list for the rest of their life. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:54.480 They cannot live within half a mile of a school. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:57.519 They have to live in on every job application. 00:17:57.839 --> 00:17:59.279 Would you hire that person? 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:03.440 Without knowing their story, would you hire them? 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.759 And would you dare ask them for their story because that's embarrassing? 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:13.519 Sometimes I think we'd rather just wait till we're dead, and then God can resurrect us. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:22.160 But if you make a mistake and you betray what we consider social norms, well, you can suffer till you die. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:34.880 You consider committing a felony when you're 18, and how validly on your job application for the rest of your life, even after you've served your time. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:37.279 Consider. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:41.519 I don't know what your story is. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:46.480 I don't know how you in your family has suffered. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:58.880 Because they did something when they were young or unadvisably, or they just happened to be the one who got caught that one time, or something was done to them that has put them in the realm of death until they die. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:03.839 I trust that you know somebody like this. 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:07.599 You might even be that person. 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:15.359 And here we have Jesus saying something really bold, like something embodied theologically. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:18.720 There's meant to be resurrection now and later. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:30.079 Resurrection is when those who are dead in their shame or their PTSD or their trauma have this chance to have life now. 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:32.799 And this is really so interesting, isn't it? 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:38.240 Why has God given Jesus the opportunity to render justice? 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:41.759 Because he is the son of a woman. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:45.599 How many of you were born by a woman? 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:48.160 Oh my goodness. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:55.759 So I'd like you to consider that John might actually be asking us to consider that you and me. 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:06.640 We have been called to render justice in this world because we were born into the human family, like Jesus and everybody else. 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:09.119 Oh, but geez might, you know. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:17.200 Look, there's this resurrection at the end, resurrection of life for those who have done good and to those who have done evil, resurrection of judgment. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:18.799 Yep, that's right. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:22.160 Remember that heaven and hell were not on the line at this time. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:23.359 They weren't. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:28.160 And I'd like you to consider something else we say every week of an IC creed. 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:34.559 He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:38.240 And God's kingdom will have no end. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:48.000 I think we're used to inglorious judgment, in which there are definitive ends to our kingdom. 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:53.920 You're not in my borders, and they stop here. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:21:02.799 The difference between inglorious judgment and glorious judgment is that God's kingdom will have no end, and ours has lots of ends. 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:05.920 My kingdom ends because you have a felony. 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:09.839 My kingdom ends because you don't have a job right now and you should. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:13.920 My kingdom ends because we all have this list. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:28.079 And if I can hear the difference between glorious judgment and inglorious judgment, which frankly we often resort to, because our kingdoms end very close to us. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:30.799 Very close. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:41.119 And if you've been to a funeral, I think this is the heart of our faith is that there are things we get to partner with God in doing. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:46.960 These are things called love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:50.640 Against such things, there is no law, nor limit, nor end of life. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:52.400 Those things out with us. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:54.799 That is the glorious resurrection of faith. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:58.400 And here's the good news about every funeral you've ever been to. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:05.680 There is an ending to all the Other things like shame and fear and pettiness and lust, they die with us. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:08.720 That's the resurrection of judgment. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:12.640 Those deserve to die with our bodies. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:14.400 And God will do that. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:19.759 And the invitation I wonder about this in life is we can do that now. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:22.240 We can do that now. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:25.119 What about the other scriptures? 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:33.039 I think they're asking us to really consider frankly what kind of faith we have in who it's working for. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:35.839 Now I'm going to do something called gobam offering. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:40.079 This is a hodgepodge pell bell because I rarely have a point. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:41.839 And you know that, you've been there before. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.559 So I invite you to three different considerations. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:48.640 And hey, if the first one gets you, check the box and you're done. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:51.759 The first one goes like this: faith without works is dead. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:55.039 So if you need to hear that you could do more. 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:00.000 And that's a valuable message sometimes. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:01.759 Faith without works is dead. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:05.200 If you need to hear that mission accomplished, you've heard it in the scriptures. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:07.279 I don't even have to explain it, right? 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:14.640 It's one thing to say I believe, and the question is, what difference does my belief make in the life of the world? 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:19.279 Now, the way I heard this as a youth, and this is why I want to give you a couple more, right? 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:24.079 Is that it was meant to manipulate me into shame and fear. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:30.880 I don't know if that's what my Sunday school teachers thought they were doing, but I'll tell you that's what it was doing in me. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:35.599 Twifting a nice in me because I said I was Christian. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:38.240 And I was unchristianism. 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:45.200 And cognitive participants, it was like I had the faith of a demon because I wasn't doing anything. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:49.839 I'm not even going to ask for a share of hands to see if you've heard that message before. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:56.799 I don't like it because I don't think that God approaches us through shame or fear or judgment. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:59.200 I think that's how we approach each other. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:01.599 But I don't think it's very holy. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:03.200 We don't. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:18.799 But if you need to hear, the question I was asking is if you were tried in court over whether or not you were a Christian, would there be evidence to convict you? 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:20.640 Hear that question. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:21.440 Just hear. 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:23.519 Would there be evidence to convict? 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:25.279 Gosh, isn't that rough? 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:26.799 That's a rough question. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:28.160 But it might serve. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:29.359 It might. 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:37.279 Second piece. 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:39.839 I know it's hard to about faith and works. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:46.240 See, I think we usually say this faith and there's works and there's the secret things. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:52.720 Instead of asking, do we have faith that works? 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:58.079 And who does our faith work for? 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:06.480 And I'm afraid, friends, more often than not, our faith works really well for us. 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:16.240 By which I mean people who are educated like us, people who confess like us. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:21.359 I'm not taking this to task, but I hope you hear this. 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:26.640 People who speak like us, pray like us, present like us. 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:31.359 We have faith that works for us. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:38.160 And here I'm going to be even more political, but I hope you're going to hear me say something non-political in just a second. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:54.160 Zechariah says, true justice shall you administer justly for the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, and the one made poor through repression. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:26:03.039 Now, this is not my liberal bias because I don't want to be liberal at the end of my life. 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:05.119 I want to have been a good neighbor. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:07.839 I don't want to have been conservative. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:09.519 I want to have been a good neighbor. 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:16.720 And the scriptures say you're a good neighbor based on how you treat people who have no power. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:21.440 Widows, orphans, immigrants, and people may pour through oppression. 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:24.559 So I hope you don't mind me saying this political thing. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:30.960 You know, we used to believe, at least I grew up hearing, that in the United States we believe in a separation of church and state. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:32.720 I grew up hearing that. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:36.319 And therefore I wish we would embrace it. 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:40.240 I wish we would stop saying that we're Christian politicians. 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:47.680 Because I'm an elding politician on either side that is doing things for widows, orphans, immigrants, and those who are oppressive. 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:50.559 Do you? 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:52.240 Why not? 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:54.240 Because it's not politically expedient. 00:26:54.319 --> 00:27:02.559 So I wish we'd just tell the truth and say, I have private Christian faith, but I choose to live politically in a way that makes sense for people who are born in this country. 00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:07.839 And I wish we wouldn't blame the two, because when we do it, I'm sorry, friends, we're lying. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:10.400 Me lying too. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:11.839 Me lying. 00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:19.839 It's okay to say we want you to have a baby, but we're not going to support it in any way. 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:22.720 But don't say that's Christian because it's a lie. 00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:26.880 I'm sorry, friends, I've been lying too. 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:28.640 I've been lying too. 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:32.240 My politics are sometimes very different from Zechariah. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:34.880 Sometimes very different. 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:40.880 Because I know what it is to be shrewd, and I know what it is to have a family with limited resources. 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:43.039 But let's just stop doing this. 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:50.880 Let's stop saying we do Christian politics when we're not doing Christian politics. 00:27:52.720 --> 00:28:02.640 I know there's all kinds of myths that look, for every anecdote, there's an anecdote, but I just want you to hear, as somebody who adopted a kid out of foster care, what that's like. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:08.880 I want you to hear what Medicaid was like for me. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:19.920 When I was making$40,000 a year, and that was the only income, and I had an extra child with a lot of needs. 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:22.640 Here's the glory of Medicaid. 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:23.759 You ready? 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:28.319 We could see a psychologist from a pre-approved place. 00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:30.559 We got four to pick from. 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:32.960 Two of them were dead. 00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:37.680 One of them had moved and had his credentials stripped. 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:41.599 So we could pick any one of the four, but there was only one alive. 00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:45.039 Let me tell you what that was like. 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:48.559 An appointment lasted less than a minute. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:53.119 As somebody wrote a prescription and said see in a month. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:55.599 Didn't even ask if it was working. 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:02.799 Oh, all this glorious social support. 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:08.559 And my child had a tooth that was growing sideways. 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:17.680 And not just the dentist, the doctor said it's medically necessary to extract that tooth so it doesn't destroy his mouth. 00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:23.359 Medicaid doesn't cover orthodontics in the state of Texas. 00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:31.519 So I look to you, either we're politicians or we're Christian, but I don't see anybody doing it. 00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:38.960 It's gotten worse since I did it 20 years ago, by the way. 00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:41.359 It's gotten worse. 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:45.440 I'm not saying anything partisan. 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:53.759 I'm saying we live in a political system where whether people call themselves Christian or not, this is the reality for our kids. 00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:05.680 So interesting this week that I was talking to somebody and through this out left heel, they said to me, Oh, you know so-and-so, an artist. 00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:10.079 She is the best Christian I know, even though she has no Christian faith at all. 00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:14.240 Because of what she does. 00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:16.880 And not something. 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:21.920 Have you ever met somebody Christian who wasn't Christian? 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:30.880 Because they loved justice and they need mercy. 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:33.519 And they were humble. 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:40.960 Who does our faith work for? 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:44.799 Here's a third option. 00:30:46.079 --> 00:30:48.799 Maybe I've already checked your box, or maybe you're already mad at me. 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:52.559 Listen, I've got something today that I can offend everybody in the room with. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:53.920 And maybe this is it. 00:30:55.039 --> 00:31:10.720 I think part of the thing that is concerning about widows and orphans and immigrants and people who are already oppressed and thinking about what our faith, how it works for them, is because if we're honest, we've got all of those parts within us already. 00:31:11.680 --> 00:31:15.920 We have utterly powerless voices in ourselves. 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:23.119 What am I talking about? 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:24.480 Look, terrible story. 00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:25.039 Sorry. 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:40.480 And look, I hope you're not better to defend you with the story, but it's true and near and dear to my heart, which is that my father was drafted on purpose by his own father to go to the Vietnam War because in his family it was understood that military service was what we did. 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:49.920 So even though my father had been married for a few months and was still in college, his father pulled his draft number, which was like 275. 00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:52.319 That number was not going to be called. 00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:55.759 My dad went to Vietnam. 00:31:57.119 --> 00:31:59.680 And he followed his orders because that's what you did. 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:11.519 And in fact, I was really lucky to hear faithful Christians in Coronado tell me that when they did their orders, they didn't ask for God to forgive them because they knew they were going to give the same orders the next day. 00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:14.319 You don't ask for forgiveness when you know you're going to do it again. 00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:19.200 They asked for God to give them the strength to do what they felt like they were compelled to do. 00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:26.880 So my dad went and he circuited the front. 00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:34.640 And when my dad contracted Alzheimer's, he spent the last four years of his life living in what he described as hell. 00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:48.720 He was in Vietnam every night when he went to sleep, following his orders and watching men, women, and children die because he was ordered to do so and did it. 00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:50.880 I'm not saying he did the wrong thing. 00:32:51.039 --> 00:33:05.359 What I want you to hear is he lived in this place perpetually in his dementia, where he went back to unmark graves in his life. 00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:07.680 We get this now. 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:10.000 I hope you know the history of PTSD. 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:12.799 We figured that word out after Vietnam. 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:16.160 We didn't know why people came back with it. 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:20.559 It's because they killed women, men, and children and then came back to their families. 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:22.960 And there is such a thing as moral injury. 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:25.039 I don't care why we do it. 00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:26.960 Moral injury is real. 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:30.240 We know not to kill. 00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:41.359 There's times we go to war and we do it right, but I hope you hear that only a sociopath does not, this is the definition of a sociopath, does not feel guilt or shame having killed somebody else's children. 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:44.160 That's how we're supposed to be. 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:53.279 My dad did not talk about his military service with his family. 00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:57.759 I don't know if you've done Vietnam Vets and he seemed to only want to talk about it with each other. 00:33:58.000 --> 00:33:59.680 They won't talk about it with their spouse. 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:02.640 Well, they sure won't talk about it with their kids. 00:34:03.680 --> 00:34:08.000 What are you going to tell your kid I killed children and now you're my child? 00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:19.519 The unmarked graves, the orphans, the widows, those who were oppressed, the immigrants in my father's life. 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:31.360 They were the shame he experienced when he flew back after his twin sister died. 00:34:31.840 --> 00:34:34.639 Right after the Miley baby incident. 00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:38.079 And there he was in the airport in his statistics. 00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:46.800 And a concerned citizen came and spat in his face to show their protest against the U.S. 00:34:46.960 --> 00:34:47.760 war in Vietnam. 00:34:48.079 --> 00:34:49.280 Spatted his face. 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:54.960 Not the person who decided we were there, but his face. 00:35:53.360 --> 00:35:58.960 But I wonder if we're being asked, who does our faith work for? 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:02.239 Does it even work for us? 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:07.119 Or do we tell ourselves, stay dead and God will fix it later? 00:36:08.320 --> 00:36:15.599 And in so doing, the stench of death comes out of us over and over again. 00:36:24.960 --> 00:36:32.480 There are many places in my life I would rather consign to the tea and let God fix later. 00:36:33.920 --> 00:36:45.199 I just think really, along with the African proper, and you've heard me say this before, God created us because God hoped we would enjoy it. 00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:51.599 God created us because God hoped we would enjoy it. 00:36:51.920 --> 00:37:04.960 But some of the widows and the immigrants and the orphans, the things that are powerless in us where we've been hurt, are exactly some of the places where we're called to have something of life. 00:37:05.280 --> 00:37:08.559 A resurrection of life and a resurrection of judgment. 00:37:08.719 --> 00:37:18.639 I learned things when I was a kid about what it means to be a man and continue to corrupt and destroy the parenting I give my kids today. 00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:20.960 Did you not? 00:37:22.559 --> 00:37:28.960 Women don't get off the hook either, because if you're a Southern woman, you've been told what Southern womanhood looks like. 00:37:29.119 --> 00:37:34.880 You want to talk about living into an immigrant status, be a Southern woman. 00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:42.159 Not only do you have to bear the indignity, you've got to do it with a smile. 00:37:44.559 --> 00:37:48.719 Does our faith work for those parts of ourselves that have been crushed? 00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:53.039 I just invite you to consider that. 00:37:53.760 --> 00:37:58.800 Because I think the scriptures invite us to consider that. 00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:01.920 It's not that there's a difference between faith and works. 00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:05.039 I think the question really is: who does our faith work for? 00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:15.280 And my last thought that I want to give you in this whole Gala, I just read this book that King Charles read when he was the Crown Prince of Wright Wales. 00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:16.239 It's called Harmony. 00:38:16.320 --> 00:38:17.679 It's very interesting. 00:38:18.559 --> 00:38:23.599 Theologically sophisticated, frankly, from somebody who's not a clergy person. 00:38:24.079 --> 00:38:31.679 One of the things he wrote that I didn't realize was in the original book of God's prayer, that is the one written by Thomas Cranber. 00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:38.480 You know that part in the Lord's Prayer, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven? 00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:47.119 Yeah, uh, originally it was, Thy will be done in as it is in heaven. 00:38:50.239 --> 00:39:41.519 I wonder fourthly, if that true phrase makes any difference in who your faith works for, whether God works on the earth, whether God works on you, whether God works on us whether we work on other people we work here and we're and I think the good news of the gospel I think you I can actually find yourself thinking I've got a faith instead of faith. 00:39:43.599 --> 00:39:45.280 God can resurrect our faith. 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:51.119 God can say, Let's have a second life.