1 Samuel 8:4-10 (Common English Bible)

So all the Israelite elders got together and went to Samuel at Ramah.

They said to him, “Listen. You are old now, and your sons don’t follow in your footsteps. So appoint us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”

It seemed very bad to Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” so he prayed to the Lord.

The Lord answered Samuel, “Comply with the people’s request—everything they ask of you—because they haven’t rejected you. No, they’ve rejected me as king over them. They are doing to you only what they’ve been doing to me from the day I brought them out of Egypt to this very minute, abandoning me and worshipping other gods. So comply with their request, but give them a clear warning, telling them how the king will rule over them.”

Then Samuel explained everything the Lord had said to the people who were asking for a king.

Acts 6:1-8 (Common English Bible)

In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, the edges of his robe filling the temple. Winged creatures were stationed around him. Each had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew about.

They shouted to each other, saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heavenly forces! All the earth is filled with God’s glory!”

The doorframe shook at the sound of their shouting, and the house was filled with smoke.

I said, “Mourn for me; I’m ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips. Yet I’ve seen the king, the Lord of heavenly forces!”

Then one of the winged creatures flew to me, holding a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs.

He touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips. Your guilt has departed, and your sin is removed.”

Then I heard the Lord’s voice saying, “Whom should I send, and who will go for us?”

I said, “I’m here; send me.”

Scripture Reading

Acts 2:1-4

When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting.

They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

____

Pastoral Prayer

John 17:15-23

I’m not asking that you take them out of this world but that you keep them safe from the evil one. They don’t belong to this world, just as I don’t belong to this world. Make them holy in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. I made myself holy on their behalf so that they also would be made holy in the truth.

“I’m not praying only for them but also for those who believe in me because of their word. I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. I’ve given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one. I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved me.

Acts 10:44-11:3 (Common English Bible)

While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on everyone who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.

They heard them speaking in other languages and praising God. Peter asked, “These people have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. Surely no one can stop them from being baptized with water, can they?”

He directed that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited Peter to stay for several days. The apostles and the brothers and sisters throughout Judea heard that even the Gentiles had welcomed God’s word.

When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him. They accused him, “You went into the home of the uncircumcised and ate with them!”

_____

Pastoral Prayer

You are good and wise I will praise you when I rise.

Jesus, hear this prayer I send Bless my family and my friends.

Jesus, help my eyes to see All the good you send to me.

Jesus, help my ears to hear Calls for help from far and near.

Jesus, help my feet to go In the way that You will show.

Jesus, help my hands to do All things loving, kind, and true.

Jesus, guard me through this day In all I do and all I say.

Amen.

Exodus 2:1-10 (Common English Bible)

Now a man from Levi’s household married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son.

She saw that the baby was healthy and beautiful, so she hid him for three months. When she couldn’t hide him any longer, she took a reed basket and sealed it up with black tar. She put the child in the basket and set the basket among the reeds at the riverbank.

The baby’s older sister stood watch nearby to see what would happen to him.

Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, while her women servants walked along beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds, and she sent one of her servants to bring it to her. When she opened it, she saw the child.

The boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children.”

Then the baby’s sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Would you like me to go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

Pharaoh’s daughter agreed, “Yes, do that.”

So the girl went and called the child’s mother.

Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I’ll pay you for your work.”

So the woman took the child and nursed it. After the child had grown up, she brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her son.

She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I pulled him out of the water.”

_____

The book Common Prayer reminds us:

“We walk in the company of the women who have gone before,

mothers of the faith both named and unnamed,

testifying with ferocity and faith to the Spirit of wisdom and healing.

They are the judges, the prophets, the martyrs, the warriors, poets, lovers, and saints

who are near to us in the shadow of awareness, in the crevices of memory, in the landscape of our dreams.”

Women like:

Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Coretta Scott King

Susan B. Anthony

Rosa Parks

Dorothy Day

Sojourner Truth

Sacagawea

Mary Meachum

Ann Judson

Julian of Norwich

Clare of Assisi

Mary

Elizabeth

Esther

Ruth

Deborah

Miriam

Your moms

Judi’s mom

My mom

May I add to this list immigrants, who, hoping for a better, safer life for their children, who, because life at home can be so dangerous, so perilous, so unsettled, pack up their families and travel hundreds, thousands of miles, into uncertainty, often in frightfully dangerous conditions hoping to find a place of refuge for their children! And I add to this list the moms (and dads) who, when faced with the impossible decision of returning with their children to intolerable situations or letting their children go forward without them, hoping that their children, will find compassion, empathy and assistance on the other side, they let them go. These incredible women do this knowing that they may never see their children again, but believing that what they are doing is the only way to protect their kids. That’s what moms do- anything to protect their children.

-and by moms I mean biological mothers and grandmothers, as well as the gutsy women who stand for what is right, what is just, what is equitable.

Let me add to that list of incredible women, Jochebed.

Jochebed was born a slave. Jochebed’s mom was a slave. Her grandmother was a slave, as was her great grandma.

The story of Jochebed is the story of a family who came to place as refugees, settled in that place, prospered in that place, and then saw the governmental authorities force them into bondage and slavery.

Jochebed had been raised hearing the stories of her amazing ancestors. She heard stories about Levi, and Joseph, Rachel, Rebekah and Sarah, of wealth and prosperity, of a home back there, of milk and honey.

Jochebed had also been raised a slave. She worked as a slave. She ate slave rations, and often went hungry as a slave. She slept on a pallet in a shack that was meant for slaves. She lived in extreme distress. There was faint hope that tomorrow would be any better.

When Jochebed was old enough, she married another slave.

Jochebed had two children, a son and a daughter. They were born as slaves as well.

The government feared a slave uprising because of the sheer number of slaves in the land. In an effort to halt the growth in number of slaves, the government declared by edict that baby boys born to slave women were to be killed, immediately, thrown into the River and drowned.

At about this same time as this edict began to be enforced, Jochebed became pregnant with her third child.

The family kept the pregnancy as hush-hush as possible and when a baby boy was born, the family tried to hide both Jochebed and the baby from the authorities.

They were able to do this for about three months. But as patrols of baby police increased, Jochebed spent day after day, night after night in fear for her baby boy.

She then did a thing that seemed so crazy, but she was desperate to protect her son.

Jochebed took a woven reed basket, and sealed it in pitch, black tar, so that it would float. Then, she delicately placed her baby in the basket, and carried the baby in the basket to the river and placed the baby in the basket in the river along the shore line in the cattails and reeds.

Can you imagine how terrifying it must have been for Jocheded? How desperate she must have felt to try such a thing? How afraid she must have been for her son?

She left her daughter on the river bank, hidden in the trees, to watch over the baby and to see what might happen next.

Apparently, the next day, the Κing’s daughter came down to the river to take a bath. While there, one of her attendants spotted the basket and the baby.

Now, how is it that the King’s daughter would be taking a bath in the same place a slave would have placed the baby in a basket? It does not make sense that the King’s daughter would take her bath in an area occupied by, or close to where the slaves lived, but rather, would bathe near her palatial estate.

So, I think Jochebed had a plan for her baby beyond floating him in the river. She intentionally carried the baby in the basket to where the King’s daughter regularly bathed. One can infer that she walked several miles in the middle of the night to take her child to the one place where he might, just might, find safety.

And sure enough, the plan worked.

The king’s daughter discovered the baby, assumed he was one the condemned Hebrew boys and immediately was drawn to him. And on the spot, decided to raise the baby as her own.

At which point, Jochebed’s daughter came out of her hiding place and offered to secure a wet nurse if the king’s daughter wanted her to.

The king’s daughter agreed, perhaps assuming a Hebrew woman nursing a Hebrew child would be the best thing to do.

Jochebed’s daughter hurried back home, told her mom that the plan had worked, and then told her that she could be the wet nurse to her own son. Whether this was a part of Jochebed’s plan or just a fortuitous outcome, I’m not sure.

Jochebed and her daughter walked back to where the king’s daughter was and there agreed to take care of the child until he no longer needed mother’s milk.

Jochebed was able to take the baby home with her, feed him, hold him, love him. And she no longer needed to be afraid of the patrols as the King’s daughter insured the baby’s safety.

In Islamic literature, the king is furious at this decision to raise the Hebrew boy and plans to have him killed but his daughter (wife in the Islamic telling) intervenes and refuses to allow any harm to come to the boy.

We can assume that in those months, (Babylonian writings report that children nursed for two or three years) while the baby stayed with Jochebed, the king’s daughter was a regular visitor to Jochebed’s home. It must have broken Jochebed’s heart to have to pretend not to be the baby’s mother, but she was prepared to do whatever was necessary to protect him.

In her visits, the king’s daughter undoubtedly heard Jochebed talking to the baby about how he was pulled, rescued, saved (in Hebrew “Masha”) from the River.

The day finally came for Jochebed to hand over her son to the King’s daughter. She knew that to do anything else would eliminate the promise of the boy’s safety, and a refusal to let him go would most surely mean death for him, and perhaps foe her other children as well.

The king’s daughter received the boy from Jochebed and named him Moses, an Egyptian word for “son” but also the Hebrew word for “rescue” that she had heard from Jochebed on her many visits. Perhaps it is the name that Jochebed had called her boy since the beginning- Masha, Moses.

I can’t imagine the pain in Jochebed’s heart as she handed over the boy to the King’s daughter, but there was certainly some sense of comfort as she knew, in a climate where her son would certainly be killed, that he would be “safe as houses” as he grew up in the household of the King.

Jochebed’s other children, Aaron and Miriam would grow up to be co-leaders with Moses in the movement to free the Hebrews from Egyptian captivity.

We don’t know anything else about the life story of Jochebed after Moses moves to the palatial home of the King, but we know this. Jochebed did what she had to do to save her son.

And that’s what moms do. Anything that is necessary to protect their children.

Thank you, moms!

Amen.

_____

Pastoral Prayer

O God, Creator of the heavens and of earth,

Thank you for the women in our lives,

for the mentors, the teachers, the caregivers, the encouragers, the supporters, the challengers,

For mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, friends

Help us to remember what they have taught us.

Help us to see one another through eyes enlightened by understanding and compassion.

Help us to listen to the voices of the women in our lives and to all of our sisters throughout the world with respect and attention.

Open our ears to the cries of women who have been denied their rights and their dignity and yet continue to hold their societies together.

Empower us to be instruments of justice for all, for in the wholeness of Christ, all mothers are our own mothers, and we are one.

Amen.

Acts 8:26-31 (Common English Bible)

An angel from the Lord spoke to Philip, “At noon, take the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

So he did. Meanwhile, an Ethiopian man was on his way home from Jerusalem, where he had come to worship. He was a eunuch and an official responsible for the entire treasury of Candace. (Candace is the title given to the Ethiopian queen.)

He was reading the prophet Isaiah while sitting in his carriage.

The Spirit told Philip, “Approach this carriage and stay with it.” Running up to the carriage, Philip heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah.

He asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?”

The man replied, “Without someone to guide me, how could I?”

Then he invited Philip to climb up and sit with him.

_____

I was 16 years old. I was brand new in the faith. I had met a group of friends, mostly older than me, with whom I clicked and whose faith was the faith for which I yearned.

We all were children of the Jesus Movement and our theology and lifestyles were heavily influenced by that movement.

We believed that Jesus would return any moment.

We described our faith in Jesus as a personal relationship.

We believed the Holy Spirit was real, and at work in us.

We listened to Jesus Rock. I replaced Black Sabbath, Led Zepplin, and Alice Cooper with Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, and Petra.

We were critical of the institutional church, but we didn’t reject it. We still attended our different churches on Sundays and when things were happening.

We believed that Bible Study and Prayer were essential elements of the Christian life.

We understood that our mission in life was to tell others about Jesus. We did this with our words and actions and even our attire. I wore a jean jacket everyday with a iron-on decal that covered the entire back of the jacket. The image on the decal was of a hand with the index finger pointed up, beside the index finger was a cross and beside the cross the words “One Way.” We regularly stuffed evangelistic tracts under the windshield wipers of cars sitting outside bars and we read and discussed all the popular books about effective witnessing.

We hung out with each other every minute we could. If I wasn’t at school or at work, I was with them. We met together for Bible Study and Prayer meetings 3 or 4 times a week. We had no leader, per se, except, we would say, the Holy Spirit. We studied, we prayed, and we believed that what the Bible said was meant to be acted upon.

One Evening, in a Bible study, we studied this passage about Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. The thrust of the passage, we decided, was that we should always be in a position to listen to God and share our faith. We prayed that God would open doors for us to share the good news of Jesus with others.

The morning after that Bible Study, I was walking to school. It was a little over a mile from my house on Sims Street to the high school out on Maish road and I didn’t like riding the bus. So, if I didn’t have a ride, I walked. As I was walking down Clinton Street, I saw a girl walking about a block in front of me.

I felt this strong impulse, an urging I would have called it, that I should hustle up to her and tell her some Good News. Up to this moment, I had never approached a complete stranger to share the gospel. But, hoping to be obedient, I jogged up to her and walked beside her.

I didn’t know her. I think she was older than me, a Junior or Senior. Strangely enough, I don’t ever remember seeing her again after our encounter.

As we walked, I said, “hi.”

She said hi back.

I walked in silence for a moment and then I said, “I have some Good News.”

She said, politely, “Really.”

I then said, “Guess who is coming back?”

She said, somewhat hesitantly, “Who?”

I responded, “Jesus.”

She did not respond, we walked in silence the rest of the way to school.

Awkward!!!! And sadly, not my most awkward moment. Probably not even in the top ten.

But, I was just trying to follow Philip’s example.

One day, As he was leaving Samaria and entering into Judea, Philip sensed the Lord telling to him to take the Gaza Road. The Gaza Road was a popular route south of Jerusalem to the city of Gaza where it intersected with the Via Maris, a road that went south into Africa and north into Syria. It was a primary trade route in the Ancient world. And the best way to get to the Via Maris from Jerusalem was the Gaza Road, which is pictured on the front of your bulletin.

So Philip set out on the Gaza Road South. While he walked along the road, he met up with a man from Ethiopia who had been to Jerusalem to worship (there was a large population of Diaspora Jews in Ethiopia and it was a life goal to pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple).

He was traveling to Gaza, and there he would pick up the Via Maris and head south to Africa where family and friends would undoubtedly be waiting to hear about his journey.

It appears that the man was an official in the Ethiopian Queen’s service and was riding in a horse drawn open air carriage reading a scroll. Noting his position in the government, he may very well have had a driver and security.

Philip sensed the spirit urging him to go up to the man, so Philip went. As he came within earshot, he heard the man reading out loud. The scroll from which he read was a portion of the Hebrew Bible’s Isaiah. It was the passage in which the prophet talks about the Suffering Servant.

Philip approached the man and offered to explain the passage to him. With that, the Ethiopian invited Philip to ride along side him. Philip did, and with more eloquence than I had displayed in my efforts on Clinton Street, told the man about Jesus, the suffering servant.

Philip must have been convincing as the man from Ethiopia said to him, “Hey look, Who would have guessed but there is a pond of water beside this desert road. Take me to the water to be baptized.”

And because Philip kept his eyes open on the road, the Kingdom grew by at least one that day, and maybe the man’s servants and security as well.

As I heard that story in bible study, I took it to heart and understood it to say I should be ready, always and anytime, to share the good news.

I gotta tell you, some 47 years later, I don’t think I was that far off.

Of course, I understand the good news differently now than I did back then. In 1974, the good news as I understood it, was about accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, and that is good news. But I believe that the good news embraces much more than personal salvation.

The good news also includes

caring for the struggling,

working for justice and equity,

addressing systemic failure like hunger and poverty,

rejecting racism, bigotry, and hate,

showing mercy,

standing with the oppressed,

affirming and accepting all people as God’s beloved,

embracing the stranger,

practicing kindness,

providing second chances,

turning the other cheek,

going the second mile,

loving unconditionally.

With this understanding of Good News, the message of the story of Philip and the Ethiopian is still relevant and meaningful.

Philip was obedient to God and responded to the need he saw. He walked on the road with his eyes open and engaged the person he encountered.

Is it silly to suggest that all of us, everyday, are traveling on roads that lead us into encounters with others- family, neighbors, co-workers, fellow students, subordinates, those in authority, acquaintances, strangers? And is it silly to believe that God allows us to travel these roads precisely because we might be in position to react with Good News to those we encounter?

The words we say, the actions we take, the kindness we show, the encouragement we offer can make a positive difference in somebody else’s life. In fact, our willingness to live out God’s love and grace can make all the difference in the world.

Perhaps each day should begin with a simple request, “Lord, on this day, when I am on the road, allow me to see and respond to the needs around me.”

Amen.

_____

Pastoral Prayer

One Way by Larry Norman

One way, one way to Heaven

Hold up high your hands

One way, free and forgiven

Children of the Lamb

Two roads diverged in the middle of my life

I heard a wise man say

And I took the one less traveled by

And that's made the difference, every night and every day

So I say one way, one way to Heaven

Hold your heads up high

Follow, free and forgiven

Children of the sky

Children of the sky, halelu

Children of the sky

Acts 4:13-20 (Common English Bible)

The council was caught by surprise by the confidence with which Peter and John spoke. After all, they understood that these apostles were uneducated and inexperienced. They also recognized that they had been followers of Jesus. However, since the healed man was standing with Peter and John before their own eyes, they had no rebuttal. After ordering them to wait outside, the council members began to confer with each other. “What should we do with these men? Everyone living in Jerusalem is aware of the sign performed through them. It’s obvious to everyone and we can’t deny it. To keep it from spreading further among the people, we need to warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.” When they called Peter and John back, they demanded that they stop all speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus.

Peter and John responded, “It’s up to you to determine whether it’s right before God to obey you rather than God. As for us, we can’t stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

_____

In the superlatives for the Senior class of 1976 at Frankfort Senior High School, I was voted “most honest.” I don’t think it was because I was the most honest, I think it was simply because I was so overtly open about my faith. I was religious, therefore, I must be honest.

I was 20 years old, and I was working for a moving company during the summer between my sophomore and junior year of college. One Saturday, the owner’s son and I drove up to Chicago to move a young woman to the Quad cities.

The owner’s son was a good guy, probably four or five years older than me, and was clearly the person in charge that day.

We chatted all the way to Chicago.

As we were getting close to her apartment, he said to me “I made a mistake and didn’t put a mattress box on the truck and the person we’re moving requested that her mattress go in a box.” So, if she asks about it, tell her the box is in the truck and that we will put the mattress in the box inside the truck.

To which I said, “Why would I do that? Why wouldn’t I just tell her the truth?” After all, I had been voted the most honest.

To which he said to me, “Come on dude, take one for the team,” which was his way of saying “don’t make waves, don’t cause trouble for me or the company.”

What do we do when someone in authority over us requests, demands that we do something that violates our values, or our faith, or creates problems for others?

And it has happened to all of us.

A supervisor or a boss has asked us to cover up something or take a short cut,

a member of our peer group has pressured us to go along with the group,

a parent has told us to lie on the phone for them to someone,

a coach has encouraged us to break a rule, or as sensei Kreese demands of Johnny Laurence, “sweep the leg,”

a governmental official or dictate might require that we ignore Jesus’ teachings as we understand them- my son was ordered by police not to pass out pizza to homeless people at a park in Philadelphia, people have been arrested for providing water to migrants passing through the desert.

What do we do when someone in authority requests, demands that we do something that violates our values, or our faith, or creates problems for others?

For those of us who hate confrontation, we often just capitulate and violate our own values rather than face a confrontation. The times when I have been most angry at myself are times of acquiescence when I have chosen an easy way over an uncomfortable encounter.

Some of us work hard to find compromises that allow us to do what we value (kind of) while not upsetting those who have authority over us.

Some of us just quit, we leave, we avoid, we take a different street.

What do we do when someone in authority requests, demands that we do something that violates our values, or our faith, or creates problems for others?

Let’s see what Peter and John do in the book of Acts.

It begins as Peter and John are near the temple one day. They pass by a man crippled since birth who is begging for alms.

Peter tells the man he doesn’t have money, but... he could give him what he has, and he heals him.

It creates quite a commotion and word spreads quickly that Peter has healed the man. A large crowd gathers around Peter and John. So, Peter takes advantage of the situation and preaches to the crowd.

The religious authorities confront Peter and John, and end up arresting them and putting them in jail for the night.

In the morning, religious, civil and legal authorities in Jerusalem get together and make a plan. They have Peter and John brought before them, listen to their impressive defense and then demand that the pair stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus.

The Scripture says Peter and John respond by saying, “It’s up to you to determine whether it’s right before God to obey you rather than God. As for us, we can’t stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

The authorities threaten them with dire consequences but have to release them because they haven’t done anything wrong except heal a man and tell people about Jesus.

And Peter and John, and others from the burgeoning church, continue to gather near the temple teaching, preaching and healing. They find themselves harassed and arrested continually. It will continue until a hate fueled mob turns on one of church’s young leaders, Stephen and murders him by stoning him to death.

I think one could, using John Lewis’ words, say that Peter and John promised, in response to the authorities demand that they not teach in the name of Jesus, to be the causers of Good Trouble.

They are saying to the authorities, when you request, demand that we do something that violates our values, or our faith, or creates problems for others we will respond by listening to God.

In the great documentary film, John Lewis: Good Trouble, Lewis says,

“My philosophy is very simple. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, say something. Do something. Get in trouble. Good trouble.” That is the promise the Peter and John make to the authorities

In a tweet made in June 2018. John Lewis wrote,

"Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."

What does that mean, “get in good trouble”? That sounds very different than what we learned growing up in church.

What does it mean, “get in good trouble.” It means being a voice for Jesus’ love, standing against injustice, working for a better world.

Peter and John promise to make good trouble because they believe in the message of God’s love through Jesus and won’t back down from that message.

To make Good Τrouble means standing up,

Rejecting

hate

racism

transphobia and homophobia

sexism

religious bigotry

religious structures and institutions that teach exclusion.

To make good trouble means speaking up,

Saying:

Yes to Jesus’ teaching

Yes to inclusion

Yes to acceptance

Yes to grace

Yes to second chances

Yes to justice and fairness and equity.

To make good trouble means

Acting out

Speaking truth to power

Following Jesus’ example of

Unconditional love and empowered kindness

Writing letters, making phone calls

Advocating

Organizing

Engaging the system

Of course, making good trouble involves following some basic rules:

1) Good trouble means change.

2) Good trouble does not evoke violence or hate. Just the opposite, good trouble is based in love.

3) Good trouble stands, or sits, or kneels or marches for justice and equity, not for personal gain or personal accolades.

There is this warning associated with causing good trouble:

There will be consequences for making good trouble.

The disciples refusal to shut up ends up costing them time in jail, threats, and death.

John Lewis understood the consequences well. Way back in 1965, in what was supposed to be a peaceful march for the right to vote, Lewis was beaten by police with billy clubs. His skull was fractured. He said about that moment, “I saw death coming. I thought I was going to die.” Additionally, in his lifetime John Lewis was arrested 45 times for making good trouble.

For others, causing good trouble might mean the loss of a job, the loss of a promotion, a loss of respect from certain quarters, rejection by peers or family. It will certainly mean discomfort and inconvenience.

There is a cost to getting into good trouble, but there is also a reward.

Through good trouble, the world is changed.

Through good trouble, the kingdom comes.

Through good trouble, a difference is made.

A 17 year old girl named Darnella Frazier was walking her 9 year old cousin to a convenient store near her home when she came upon an incident in which a police officer had a man pinned to the ground and was kneeling on his neck.

The girl pulled out her phone and started recording. She recorded for almost 10 minutes as George Floyd announced he couldn’t breathe, begged for relief, and cried for his mother. George Floyd would soon die.

The first published police report was headlined “Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction.”

Darnella made the decision to film the incident even as the group in which she was standing was threatened with tear gas, and then to post the incident online as a testimony about what really happened- she made some trouble, some good trouble, some necessary trouble.

And the world feels a little bit different because of it.

You never know when you might be in position to make some good trouble. And if you decide to, you can count yourself in good company.

Amen.

_____

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (The Message Bible)

There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

A right time for birth and another for death,

A right time to plant and another to reap,

A right time to kill and another to heal,

A right time to destroy and another to construct,

A right time to cry and another to laugh,

A right time to lament and another to cheer,

A right time to make love and another to abstain,

A right time to embrace and another to part,

A right time to search and another to count your losses,

A right time to hold on and another to let go,

A right time to rip out and another to mend,

A right time to shut up and another to speak up.

Call to Worship:

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

By Wendell Berry

https://cals.arizona.edu/~steidl/Liberation.html

_____

Scripture Reading:

Acts 3:18-21 (Common English Bible)

But this is how God fulfilled what he foretold through all the prophets: that his Christ would suffer. Change your hearts and lives! Turn back to God so that your sins may be wiped away.

Then the Lord will provide a season of relief from the distress of this age and he will send Jesus, whom he handpicked to be your Christ. Jesus must remain in heaven until the restoration of all things, about which God spoke long ago through his holy prophets.

_____

The words Judi and Carey read this morning come from a sermon Peter preaches after he and John have healed a man in Jerusalem. The event draws a crowd.

Peter tells the assembled group about Jesus’ sacrificial death, his miraculous resurrection and his return to the heavenly realm. And he gives his listeners a clue as to when Jesus might come back... “the restoration of all things.”

A popular mantra about Christ’s return is that it will happen when things get bad enough, but here Peter intones that Christ’s return is incumbent upon restoration.

Hmmm!

There was a queen who ruled over her realm. And a beautiful realm it was. There were tall, majestic mountains to the west, mile upon mile of lush, green forests, farm land that stretched out as far as the eye could see. Rivers, flowing with pristine waters, criss crossed the landscape.

The buildings in the kingdom were designed to blend into the landscape, they were built with stone and could withstand almost any natural disaster. On the eastern edge of the realm, there was a magnificent castle from where the queen could see to the welfare of her realm.

The people of the realm were content. The land and natural resources provided enough work for everybody. And people worked together and cared for each other.

And the queen’s desire was to be in the midst of her people. She regularly left the castle walls and hung out with her subjects. She celebrated with the residents of the realm as they held festivals and celebrations; she would even drop in on young children’s birthday parties from time to time.

At a point in time, the Queen left her realm to go on a good will tour of other realms. She was gone a long time.

While the queen was absent, some trolls and ogres snuck into the realm and quickly overran the place. Those who were left in charge were dispatched and the trolls and ogres ruled the land.

They cut down the trees leaving much of the forest acreage bare.

They damned up the rivers, and made a habit of throwing their waste into the waters.

They pillaged the farm land, destroying crops and killing livestock.

They tore down the beautiful buildings and replaced them with architectural misfits. The buildings they allowed to remain standing were defaced by vandalism and thoroughly mistreated with no plans to make repairs.

The castle stood empty. The queen’s Flag was lowered to the ground and left there to be trampled upon by the trolls and ogres. Thankfully, a series of enchantments prevented them from entering into the castle and damaging it from the inside.

And worst of all, the citizens of the realm were enslaved and mistreated. They were forced to work for ogre overlords.

The people soon came to experience hunger and need as the trolls and ogres destroyed their resources and left them wanting.

The Trolls and Ogres created games in which the citizens had to fight one another and harm each other.

After a while, the lessons taught in those games became a way of life and people clashed, often violently, over simple misunderstandings.

When her trip abroad ended, the queen returned home. She was startled as she crossed the border to see much of the lush forest land reduced to stumps, she saw rivers heaping with trash and debris.

She was devastated as she encountered the men, women, and children of her realm. They were gaunt, they were sad. They were covered in bruises and bandages from their constant fighting. They were broken.

She returned to her castle to find her flag on the ground, torn to shreds, and her castle walls ripe with vandalism and graffiti.

She sat within the walls of her castle broken hearted. She soon devised a plan to restore her kingdom.

The plan was brilliantly simple. She would confront the trolls and ogres and send them apacking. She would gather the residents of the realm together and appeal to their goodness, and trust their common humanity to work together to restore the realm to its pristine condition.

To confront the trolls and ogres, she had to travel up a mountain trail (Ogres preferred to live in the mountains).

As she hiked up the trail, she was followed by many citizens of the realm who had heard that the queen was making a move to take back her realm. To follow the queen was considered an act of rebellion by the trolls and ogres.

As the queen arrived at the home of the ogres she found herself standing on the edge of a cliff, with several ogres and trolls surrounding her.

“Trolls and ogres,” she said loudly and sternly, knowing her subjects were listening to every word. “I am the rightful queen of this realm and I demand that you give up your false power over these, my friends and leave.” With her words the crowd let out a great roar of approval.

As the queen spoke on about the love she had for her realm and its citizens, and about the injustice done by the invaders, one of the trolls, a particularly gross one, snuck behind her and got down on his hands and knees. The largest of the ogres, stepped forward and made his fiercest face. The queen looked back at him, without registering an iota of fear. The ogre reached out and pushed the queen.

She fell back over the troll who was behind her and fell over the cliff. As she fell, she shouted to the crowd, “This isn’t the end. My love for you will win.”

The crowd of realm residents let out a shout of despair. The ogres and trolls began to pummel them with clubs, beating them down the mountain trail, away from the ogres’ home.

The crowd started to run down the trail. After scampering half way down the mountain, they were shocked to see the queen (who had been pushed off the cliff) walking toward them. Her face was bruised, her crown was bent and her gown was torn, but she walked toward them with her head held high.

The crowd parted as she walked through them and back up to the ogres home where the ogres and trolls were drinking mead and celebrating the end of the queen.

In utter shock, the trolls and ogres stood when they saw her approaching, mouths agape as the queen walked up to them.

She walked to the largest of the ogres.

“You will leave my realm now!” She said. And the ground shook around her

And with that, the trolls and ogres, knowing that they had just witnessed deep magic, ran down the back side of the Mountain and crossed the border into the wilderness beyond the realm.

A handful of the trolls, however, didn’t cross the border, they stayed behind, hiding in what was left of the forests.

The queen, with the look of the triumphant turned to find that the crowd had once again followed her up the mountain.

“My friends whom I love. You are now free from the trolls and ogres. But now, you must use your freedom to restore the realm to its previous glory. Replant the trees, clean up the rivers, rebuild the stone buildings, and most importantly, help each other as you restore your families and reclaim your lives. While I will support and guide you, the task of restoration is yours.

But first we celebrate.”

That night, in the realm center, a glorious and wonderful banquet was held. The queen was present as were all the residents of the realm. Two trolls tried to sneak into the festivities, but were chased to the border where they fled into the wilderness. this was the first indication that some of the trolls had stayed behind in the realm.

After the grand and glorious celebration, the Queen returned to her palace and there she worked hard for her realm and kept a patient and watchful eye on its residents as they got about the business of restoring the land and the people.

The process of restoration took much longer than the residents anticipated. The damage done by the trolls and ogres was even greater than they imagined.

And the left behind trolls would sneak out at night and do damage to the work being done. When the residents discovered the vandalism, they would busy themselves with the task of refixing what had been fixed and then sabotaged by the trolls.

The residents of the realm began to realize that the queen herself would not be returning to their midst until the realm was restored.

The queen did, however, appoint her closest aide to live among the people to encourage them. This aide spoke for the queen as she taught the residents to encourage each other, accept each other, help each other and love each other.

And so, the restoration work continued. It was sometimes maddening in its slow pace. It takes time to grow trees, and clean rivers, and build buildings. And the slowest work of all was restoring people, helping them to see past the damage done and realizing that the realm to which they belonged was worthy of their trust and their commitment.

And still, even though it was slow work, the residents of the realm continued to rebuild, restore and reclaim. Knowing that this was the work of the queen and believing that at some point in time, when the restoration was complete, that the queen would return in person to her people, celebrating their journey of restoration, their wonderful work in building the realm.

The end.

Amen.

_____

Pastoral Prayer:

Psalm 80

Shepherd of Israel, listen!

You, the one who leads Joseph as if he were a sheep.

You, who are enthroned upon the winged heavenly creatures.

Show yourself before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh!

Wake up your power!

Come to save us!

Restore us, God!

Make your face shine so that we can be saved!

Lord God of heavenly forces,

how long will you fume against your people’s prayer?

You’ve fed them bread made of tears;

you’ve given them tears to drink three times over!

You’ve put us at odds with our neighbors;

our enemies make fun of us.

Restore us, God of heavenly forces!

Make your face shine so that we can be saved!

You brought a vine out of Egypt.

You drove out the nations and planted it.

You cleared the ground for it;

then it planted its roots deep, filling the land.

The mountains were covered by its shade;

the mighty cedars were covered by its branches.

It sent its branches all the way to the sea;

its shoots went all the way to the Euphrates River.

So why have you now torn down its walls

so that all who come along can pluck its fruit,

so that any boar from the forest can tear it up,

so that the bugs can feed on it?

Please come back, God of heavenly forces!

Look down from heaven and perceive it!

Attend to this vine,

this root that you planted with your strong hand,

this son whom you secured as your very own.

It is burned with fire. It is chopped down.

They die at the rebuke coming from you.

Let your hand be with the one on your right side—

with the one whom you secured as your own—

then we will not turn away from you!

Revive us so that we can call on your name.

Restore us, Lord God of heavenly forces!

Make your face shine so that we can be saved!

Acts 4:32-37 (Common English Bible)

The community of believers was one in heart and mind.

None of them would say, “This is mine!” about any of their possessions, but held everything in common.

The apostles continued to bear powerful witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and an abundance of grace was at work among them all. There were no needy persons among them.

Those who owned properties or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds from the sales, and place them in the care and under the authority of the apostles.

Then it was distributed to anyone who was in need. Joseph, whom the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (that is, “one who encourages”), was a Levite from Cyprus. He owned a field, sold it, brought the money, and placed it in the care and under the authority of the apostles.

John 20:11-16 (Common English Bible)

Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”