August 9, 2020 - Tenth Sunday after Pentecost - Memories from Creator Three Years Ago and I've Got You

This week part of Bishop Laurie's sermon that I did not write about that kept coming to my mind was when she quoted her father from last week who said "I'm comfortable with Jesus as my Savior but am I comfortable with Jesus as my Lord? This highlights two aspects of how we are called to follow Jesus.

 

I admire her father. I would like to be more comfortable than I am with either Jesus as Lord and as Savior. Today's sermon focused on faith that Jesus "has us", the "savior" aspect. This is a shift from when Creator last looked at this passage out of Matthew.

 

Jesus as Savior - Perhaps in this time where we are focused on the pandemic it is natural to be looking to Jesus as savior  and focusing more on God.s grace than how we are trying to follow God, which is at best imperfect. It is comforting to know. when trying to imagine what might make a worship we have never tried before spiritually filling. that; as Pastor Janell preached today; God is always coming down. The good news of the Gospel is about that movement and not what we might do to try to be close to God. God will always confirm "I've got you"

Jesus as Lord - A three year anniversary is coming up this Sunday or, perhaps more accurately, two memorable and intertwined events happened on August 12, 2017. The national news was reporting someone deliberately drove his car into a crowd of people who had been peacefully protesting the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one and injuring 28.

That Saturday afternoon I mourned with a community engaged in living out God's vision and hope for bringing about a more inclusive future for all. This gathering was not organized in opposition to the weekend's lead story, rather it was planned before that on Saturday family, friends and fellow congregants would attend Dr. Samuel Tse's Memorial Service at Creator Lutheran Church.

Here are my impressions three years ago.

Let me say first of all that I believe Sam inspired everyone who met him. He was an immigrant to this country from China's Canton Province. The story of his escape was amazing.  In 1970, with his feet cut by running barefoot (guards took shoes to keep him in a work camp. He swam for five hours through shark-infested waters of the South China Sea. He memorably said later about his experiences “We are all immigrants and pilgrims on this earth. The journey is short, let us help each other, love each other, and always thank God for being his child....” 

Pastor Michelle, in her sermon the next day, preached: "As I listened to the Chinese interpreter for the service, I looked around the room and saw many beautiful children of God who happen to be of Chinese ancestry.  I also saw a few other nationalities and races represented among Sam’s family and friends....  “This is the family of God!,” I said to myself.  “These are the beautiful rainbow children of God....”" She continued by quoting Aditi Juneja on Twitter, who wrote, '“If you’ve wondered what you would’ve done during slavery, the Holocaust, or the Civil Rights movement…you’re doing it now.,,,,”  Food for thought...and for action. I want to be clear on my reaction to the Juneja quote. It can carry, for some, an implicit judgment about what people should currently do by presuming the preferred food for thought, the preferred response for individuals to take, is action that is confrontational. Who would not want to deal with what are now considered historic wrongs through direct confrontation?

 I don't think, however, this kind of direct confrontation is the only viable response to this weekend's lead story. The Creator weekend experience was not directly confrontational but moved us towards another larger vision and a better future.

 Several times Creator's community responses have overwhelmed me and transcended what I imagined might happen next. The action God inspires may not be the action we think we must take. During that Saturday's service, listening to those who shared with everyone their memories of Sam, was enlightening. They knit together different aspects of Sam's life, from a neighbor's anecdote to his older sister's emotional tribute of his impact in the family's life. The service moved everyone and, despite what could have been potential language barriers, no one was excluded.

Today this Sunday's Gospel is about Jesus walking on the water just as it was Sunday's Gospel on August 13, 2017, the next day after the memorial. Now. there are more protesters in the streets, locked in the struggle for a new vision of what America and the world could be. Possibly inviting the kingdom of heaven a little closer. As disciples I suppose it is up to us to ask the same question as three years ago. How may we get out of our boat; a boat of where we both complacently and fearfully live? How would the world be if we did? 

I know the violence that has also happened in what will be 77 days of protest in downtown Portland on August 12th. The disruptive violence, and even the protests themselves, hardly seems like the kingdom of heaven come down. 

I can't speak to living out of the boat or walking on the water but three years ago; at least for a brief, beautiful, weekend; our story was changed by God's grace. We did, briefly, leave our boat for a weekend. We were swimming with life, with God, and Sam, enveloped in a God=given vision.