WEBVTT 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:17.280 Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and blessed be God's family now and forever. 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:18.239 Amen. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:27.920 Let's pray together, Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:40.159 Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy name through Christ our Lord. 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:41.119 Amen. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:01:03.520 Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be wooed without end. 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:06.799 Amen. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:10.560 The Lord be with you. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:13.680 Let us pray. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:36.640 O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving kindness through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:37.680 Amen. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.000 A prayer for Juneteenth. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:44.079 Almighty God, you rescued your people from slavery in Egypt. 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:48.640 Throughout the ages you have never failed to hear the cries of the captives. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:56.959 Remember before you our sisters and brothers in Galveston, Texas, who on this day received the glad tidings of their emancipation. 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.519 Forgive us for the many grave sins that delayed that liberating word. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:14.080 Anoint us with your spirit to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of your favor. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:21.199 Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:22.240 Amen. 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:56.960 There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:01.840 And Elijah passed by, Elisha, and threw his mantle over him. 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:11.199 And Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, Let me kiss my mother and my father, and then I will follow you. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:17.360 And Elijah said to him, Go back, for what have I done to you? 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:24.240 And Elisha turned back from following after Elijah, and took the yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:34.319 Then with the equipment from the oxen, Elisha boiled their flesh and gave it to the women, children, and men around him, and they ate. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:42.159 And then Elisha set out and followed Elijah and ministered to him with the word of the Lord. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:54.000 The psalm appointed is Psalm 23, as found in Eurulatin. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.960 We'll read responsively by the half verse. 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:06.080 In green pastures she makes me lie down. 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:11.280 My soul she restores. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:22.879 Yea, even though I walk with shadow valley death, I do not fear evil, for you are with me. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:31.040 You prepare before me a table in the presence of my enemies. 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:40.639 Only goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:23.120 Reading from 1 Peter, for unto this were you all called, because the Messiah also suffered for you, leaving behind an example for you, so that you all would follow in his steps. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:27.600 He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:31.439 He, when reviled, did not revile and turn. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:37.920 When he suffered, he did not threaten, but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:43.120 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:49.120 This, so that we, taking no part in sins, might live for righteousness. 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:59.199 By his wounds as you have been healed, for you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:02.000 The word of the Lord. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:09.199 Invite you to join me in your blue hymnal for hymn three hundred and sixty-two. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:16.319 Hymn three hundred and sixty-two, and we'll sing the first, second, and fourth verse. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:22.960 Glory be thee, Lord Christ. 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:27.600 Now Jesus went with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:32.799 And on the way he asked his disciples, Who do people say that I am? 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:40.559 And they answered, saying, John the Baptizer, and others Elijah, and still others one of the prophets. 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:44.879 He asked them, But who do you all say that I am? 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:48.799 And Peter answered Jesus, You are the Messiah. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:52.159 And he warned them, so they would tell no one about him. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:10:02.879 Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Woman must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scholars, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:05.279 And he boldly said this thing. 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:09.279 Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:20.480 But turning and looking at his disciples, Jesus rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me, accuser, because the mind is not on that which is God's, rather on that which is mortal. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:31.679 And Jesus called the crowd along with his disciples and said to those women and men, If any one to follow after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:39.840 For the one who wants to save their life will lose it, and the one who loses their life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel will save it. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:44.639 For what will it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose their life? 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:48.399 What then can a human being give in return for their life? 00:10:48.639 --> 00:11:00.480 Indeed, the one who is ashamed of me and of my words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Son of Woman will also be ashamed of that one when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:03.039 The gospel of the Lord. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:50.159 And Jesus says, Let the dead bury their dead, you follow me. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:12:01.759 Another one says, I need to sell my business, and Jesus basically says, Until you give that stuff up, you're not ready to follow me. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:02.960 I don't know if you realize. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:05.600 Is anybody familiar with these sayings, by the way? 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:08.000 But we'll see them again in a few weeks. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:13.120 But you get to hear sort of the basis for the story, which is in 1 Samuel. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:15.919 You probably have heard of the prophet Elijah before. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:20.639 He's the one who has the showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:30.720 He's sort of like the typical prophet from the Hebrew Bible, so much so that people think that Elijah has to come back in person before the Messiah. 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:32.879 Some people thought that was John the Baptist. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:38.000 And then this story, Elijah is going to pass on his ministry to Elisha. 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:39.360 I know it's a little confusing, right? 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:47.360 There's Elijah and Elisha, and later there's a king, Jehoiakim, who has a son Jehoiakin, who has another son, Jehoiakim. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:51.919 Right, so sometimes these names it sounds like Daryl, Daryl, and my other brother Daryl. 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:55.120 Anyway, there's Elijah, and he calls Elisha. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:00.879 And the way he does it is he takes his mantle, so think about like, I mean, people didn't wear chasubles. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:06.399 He takes off his poncho and puts it on this guy who's plowing a field and says, Come follow me. 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:10.000 And Elisha says, Let me say goodbye to my mom and dad. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:14.320 And Elijah says, I do whatever you want. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:15.600 Do whatever you want. 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:17.600 Follow me or don't. 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:21.600 And Elisha does this really interesting thing. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:28.879 He kills all of his ox on the spot, which is like extremely valuable, right? 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:34.960 He essentially blows up his John Deere tractor and then shares it with the village to eat. 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:44.559 So not only does he kill the oxen, he takes the yoke, he takes the plough or whatever he's got to use a fire and cooks his future on the spot. 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:47.600 Elisha sort of does this thing. 00:13:47.759 --> 00:14:00.480 Instead of like lingering to do this job, Elisha liquidates any other possibility he has in life other than following Elijah. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:03.759 Sort of an interesting and extreme way to live. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:12.399 It's sort of like when the rich man, or in Mark, it's the young ruler, says, What do I have to do to have eternal life? 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:17.440 And Jesus says, Sell everything you have, give it to the poor, and then follow me. 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:20.480 That's kind of what happens in the Elijah story. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:28.080 He feeds a bunch of people who don't have anything to eat, and then he has nothing to fall back on. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:33.279 He must have been a teenager. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:34.879 Right? 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:44.559 I mean, this is like teenage stuff, liquidating your future so you have no fallback plan, and therefore there's only one way to go, which is forward. 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:50.480 I want you to keep that in mind because it's an interesting response that Elisha has to hit that and call. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:52.879 Fast forward to Jesus and the disciples. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:59.519 They're in this place called Caesarea Philippi, which most tour groups to Israel then visit because it's pretty close to Lebanon. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:05.919 And because you know, since the mid-80s there's been a lot of friction between those two countries. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:08.320 Some people reckon it dangerous to go up there. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:19.279 Caesarea Philippi is a place of multiple shrines that are carved into essentially a mountain and there's towns below, the biggest one being a shrine to Pan. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:26.240 So when Jesus is walking around, he's seeing all of these shrines that other people have devoted to different deities. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:28.320 And the context is important, right? 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:35.919 He sees other people actively worshiping, well, the gods of their choosing, and says, Who do folks say I am? 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:39.679 I see who folks are saying Pan is. 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:43.519 I see what folks are saying the Caesar is. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:45.440 What do folks say I am? 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:47.840 And you get this lovely answer, right? 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:55.759 Some people say you're Elijah, some people say you're one of the prophets, some people say you're John the Baptist, like 2.0. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:05.600 And then comes this question, and by the way, this question's really interesting because in the Gospel of Mark, it falls sort of right in the middle of the Gospel. 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.799 But who do you say that I am? 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:15.759 In fact, one might argue that the whole point of the Gospel of Mark is to ask this question of the reader. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:23.200 And part of what Mark's doing is tell you these like events about Jesus so you can understand him from other people's perspective. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:28.399 But the goal of the gospel is for you to answer the question: who do you say Jesus is? 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:30.720 Peter's got a bright idea. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:35.679 Well, you're the Messiah, the anointed one, which please don't think that's a religious term. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:39.759 The Messiah is like saying, you're the real Tsar. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:46.000 You're the political ruler who's gonna deliver us from all of our problems. 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:50.159 I mean, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, right? 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:52.320 But like you're Cheikh Guevara. 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:59.200 To a Russian, you're you're pu you're Putin. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:00.639 You're Vladimir Putin. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:06.000 Like you are gonna take us back to where we used to be. 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:10.400 If you're wondering why people vote for that guy, I mean, it actually doesn't matter whether you vote for him or not. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:16.400 Like, that is essentially the Russian ideal, is to go back to the days of glory. 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:18.400 This is what Peter essentially says. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:23.440 Peter does not have in mind that Jesus is going to die a humiliating death. 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:27.359 We see that play out because Jesus says, I'm gonna die a humiliating death. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:33.359 And Peter goes to his czar and says, You are so wrong about yourself. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:35.279 Isn't that interesting? 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:37.359 You are so wrong about yourself. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:39.759 I mean, Jesus, get with the times. 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:44.160 Put down the plowshare and pick up the sword. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:48.079 And Jesus, it's interesting when he rebukes Peter. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:49.920 He doesn't even talk to Peter. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:52.079 He talks to everybody else. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:58.319 Because Peter was the one who shared what everybody else was thinking. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:03.039 It's not that Peter was wrong, it's that everybody was wrong. 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:14.240 Now, uh, the story's interesting because, again, I think it calls to us, and look, uh, there's a couple of ways you can hear what I'm getting ready to say, and I hope you will not hear it in the way of shame. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:16.319 The way of shame goes like this. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:20.160 This is what I heard at uh at youth camp as a kid. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:24.480 It's a compelling question, but I think if you can pull the shame out, it starts to work a little bit better. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:30.160 If you were to die today, would there be enough evidence to convict you of being Christian? 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:34.960 This is like low evangelical preaching, right? 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:43.839 It sort of asks, does anybody know, based on your life, that you're following the way of Jesus? 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:51.759 Take the shame out of that question because it can be very humiliating, put in those terms. 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:57.279 It can be very extreme that you're supposed to be an extreme follower or you're nothing. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:01.200 But I do think it's an interesting question to ask. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:09.279 Who do we say Jesus is, not just with our rhetoric, but with how we treat our neighbors? 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:14.079 I mean, that sort of is the heart of the gospel I'd like to offer. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:20.799 The heart of the gospel is who do we say Jesus is with our deeds and with our words? 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:27.920 And what's so interesting is we so often, and I'm gonna sound a little bit critical of tradition that raised me, no surprise. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:37.440 The tradition that raised me, what was most important is what we said we believed about Jesus, not how we showed that belief. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:51.920 What we said we believed about Jesus, we had the right answer, was the premium over and above how we treated other people. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:20:11.839 So much so that if somebody said something wrong, it was our duty to straighten them out, not to get to know them, not to understand where they were coming from, but simply to correct their cognitive propositional beliefs. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:14.720 Because that was what was most important. 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:26.559 And I do wonder sometimes if we don't find ourselves saying that Jesus endorses whatever we do. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:37.039 I have to tell you, I'm gonna sound political for a second, and I think that's okay. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:39.759 I'm not gonna be partisan, I'm gonna be political. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:44.880 There are two frontline candidates this year, no surprise. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:47.440 And neither one of them is the Messiah. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:50.799 I hope you hear me say that, and that doesn't bother you. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:55.599 Both of them are human beings, they have lots of flaws. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:21:03.759 Neither one of them is the incarnation of Satan, they're human beings, but they both have flaws. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:10.079 Neither one of them is the Messiah. 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:16.319 Neither one of them has been chosen by God to lead us from bondage in Egypt. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:19.359 Neither one of them. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:47.519 Do we want somebody who will represent our economic interests, or do we want somebody who we perceive, who will do justly, and love mercy and walk humbly with God? 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:53.359 Put this way, the way in which we vote, I don't mean who we vote for. 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:58.960 What we prioritize when we vote does say something about who we say Jesus is. 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:03.279 Do we vote for ourselves? 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:09.440 Or do we vote on behalf of justice, mercy, and humility? 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:12.559 Now we don't know who's going to do what, do we? 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:17.359 Because people are fickle, and they often say things that they think we want to hear. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:20.079 And so do we. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:25.599 Say things that we think other people want to hear. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:31.599 And this is why Jesus reminds us as he goes on to say what it means to follow him. 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:35.200 And I have to be honest, there are days where I would rather not do this. 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:37.200 You want to follow me? 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:39.519 Pick up the cross. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:42.079 So you can beat up your neighbor with it. 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:44.079 Nope, that's not what Jesus has in mind. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:46.480 The cross is, in fact, not to be a weapon. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:54.319 So, by the way, this political season, when people leverage the cross against their opponent, please hear, that's about as anti-Christian as you can be. 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:57.440 Because the cross is not a weapon, it's a way of dying. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:07.039 It's a way of being humiliated on behalf of other people who are categorically excluded. 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:12.799 Just to disabuse you, that I get to do this once a year. 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:16.960 I don't usually talk about this in Holy Week because, like, we don't have this passage. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:19.519 Carrying your cross. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:22.559 It's a penalty reserved for people who are poor. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:25.359 If you were rich, you have your head cut off. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:35.680 Poor people are crucified because it's public torture, and people are crucified right outside of city gates as a billboard to everybody coming in and out. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:39.519 This is what happens when you commit insurrection against Rome. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:41.519 You don't get crucified for stealing. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:43.119 You get your hand cut off for that. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:56.799 You get crucified because you're messing with the economic system, or you're plotting for guerrilla warfare, or you've killed a Roman soldier, like you're doing something to damage the institution, and you don't have money. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:23:59.200 If you had money, you lose your head. 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:08.160 People get crucified often enough that there are, you know, like in medieval towns, there's a gallows that just kind of stays there. 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:15.200 There's like a five foot eight post right outside the city gate that's permanent. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:18.720 So people didn't carry a T-shaped cross around. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:21.039 They carried the crossbar only. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:26.480 When you see Jesus with the T-cross in movies, that's an artistic statement. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.079 It's not a historical one. 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:32.559 People didn't carry a 200-pound railroad die. 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:35.920 They carried a five-pound two by four. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:42.480 In that beam was a little notch that you could just slide that little 2x4 in. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:45.200 You probably know this. 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:48.400 Nails are not enough to hold up your body weight. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:52.400 Like if somebody just used nails, they would rip right out. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:56.480 So ropes are used to tie somebody's hands to the cross. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:00.559 Then perhaps you put nails in as psychological torture. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:09.759 And it takes exactly two people to hoist somebody up on a two by four and drop it into a slot. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:13.440 If they're tall, you just bend their knees. 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:16.400 See, it's it's one size fits all. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:19.759 How do you die on the cross? 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:21.359 You suffocate. 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:28.880 Because in order to breathe, you have to pull your body weight up to give your room, your lungs, room to expand. 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:31.759 And if you're not able to do that, then you suffocate. 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:34.559 The other way you die is uh through just shock. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:38.160 So people sometimes die, including Jesus, in about five hours. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:40.079 Their body just shuts down. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:43.440 Otherwise, people were sometimes crucified for days. 00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:46.240 Like for three or four days. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:56.640 And please hear, when you hear in the Gospels that the Pharisees spat on Jesus, it wasn't like a southern watermelon seed spitting contest for a guy that's 15 feet up in the air. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:58.880 They were literally face to face. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:04.000 People were crucified so low to the ground that animals eat them in the night. 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:06.559 Like wild animals come and eat them. 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:09.920 We like to put the loincloth on Jesus to preserve his dignity. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:13.519 People were crucified naked to humiliate them. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:27.440 And Jesus says, if you want to follow me, you have to do something so bold that it amounts to treason to the way things are done. 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:43.440 You have to commit treason against what we have settled for, against powers that profit by excluding others, against powers that profit from people as commodities instead of people as subjects. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:52.880 I'm not sure my investment portfolio, I'm going to be honest, it does very well, and it's through the Church Pension Fund. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:58.319 It does so well, I'm afraid of profiting at the expense of others. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:01.200 I actually don't know what to do about that. 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:13.839 I also have this lovely benefit when I go into hospitals, particularly as a priest wearing a black shirt. 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:20.160 Nine out of ten nurses know what that means and will violate HIPAA to tell me how people are doing. 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:29.039 I don't want to say that's wrong. 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:31.920 I think the question is, what do we do with that? 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:42.079 There is not a lot of privilege, actually, when I'm among an ecumenical gathering of Christians in discussing gay and trans rites. 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:44.000 My privilege goes right out the door. 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:45.680 Because most people aren't in favor of that. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:47.359 I don't know if you're aware. 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:52.720 Most of my Christian brothers and sisters are not in favor of women in ministry. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:00.240 I'm suspicious if I were vocally opposed to those things. 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:02.559 We'd probably get some new members. 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:05.920 I didn't mean poor me. 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:07.440 I didn't mean that by any means. 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:08.960 I still have a lot of privilege here. 00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:16.000 What I mean to say is, are we willing to take up a cross? 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:26.880 Especially when it's inconvenient, in order to represent, frankly, the way Jesus chose to live. 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:38.960 And so, look, when people say a joke that is degrading, am I willing to say, you know, I just don't find that funny, and I would really appreciate it if you would abstain from jokes about Jewish people in my presence. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:41.680 I just don't think that's funny. 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:46.400 I really would like to invite you to consider the language you're using around women. 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:50.319 Because I would not talk about my own wife or kids that way. 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:54.799 Oh, that's just pushy, you know, you might be bothering somebody. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:55.920 You might. 00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:57.680 You might. 00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:04.000 But if we never present somebody with a counter-narrative, maybe they never hear one. 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:12.960 Now, I don't know that God is asking you to burn down your house so that you have nowhere to go back to, to go back to the Elisha story. 00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:17.519 I don't know that God is asking you to burn up the equipment you use to make your living. 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:30.160 But I do think there is this fundamental question, once again, who is it that we say Jesus is, not only when it's convenient, but when it's really inconvenient? 00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:39.359 With not just our theological discourse, but with the way we vote. 00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:51.519 With the signs we put in our yard, with the memes we put on Facebook, with the way we talk to family members who are difficult to talk to. 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:53.359 We all have these things. 00:29:53.519 --> 00:30:03.119 I don't think they're unique to me or to you, that you have a family member that's difficult to deal with, or somebody who doesn't listen, who likes to swap monologues at best. 00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:10.400 I don't think uh I think it's fair to say Jesus probably had those problems too. 00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:13.359 Because he was a human being like you and I. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:18.960 I think the question is, do we interface with those folks like Jesus? 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:24.000 Or do we sometimes find ourselves being Peter and saying, Lord, let me set you straight? 00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:27.200 Let me set you straight, Lord. 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:34.559 Goodness and mercy are great ideas, God, but they're not realistic. 00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:36.559 You ever had that prayer? 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:40.319 Maybe not intentionally. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:47.920 And the gospel, I think, is inviting us to consider whether we do, in fact, pray that way on a daily basis or not. 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:52.319 If this sounds like a tough teaching, it's because it is. 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:59.279 And it's probably some of the reason that the disciples continue to scratch their head and don't get the guy. 00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:08.000 Jesus says, look, if you really want to have new life, you gotta give up your old one. 00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:16.160 You can't make room for anything new if you're so saturated in the way you used to do it. 00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:19.680 I don't say that as a message of shame. 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:26.400 I think the gospel says that's a message of opportunity. 00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:35.680 It's an opportunity to reorder the way we worship, to reorder the way we think about what it means to follow Jesus. 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:39.839 Actually, it doesn't bother me if you get the beliefs wrong if you do the right thing. 00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:48.400 I think God would be grateful if you do the right thing, even if your thoughts are convoluted. 00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:50.079 I mean, wouldn't you agree? 00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:53.200 Sometimes we prioritize the wrong thing. 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:57.680 The wrong thing is not that we have an ironclad way of thinking. 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:04.400 The bad thing is that we choose to love even when it costs us something. 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:09.920 We got 20 more weeks to reorder our time, ordinary time. 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:11.839 We got 20 more weeks. 00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:16.079 So I invite you to take that journey with me. 00:32:25.200 --> 00:32:29.519 Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed. 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:40.000 We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things.