Sermon for Epiphany 1B
Judy
Dear Friends,
My beloved husband of 48 years and best friend of 50 years, Fr. Bill Boli, died December 14, 2014, so I am finally ready to post sermons again. This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Justice and Jubilee” or “The Judy Touch” or “The Work of ChristMass” and deals with the epistle (Acts 10:34-38). Here it is:
In today’s gospel, we heard the episode of Jesus’ baptism by his cousin John. This was the start of our Lord’s public ministry. Then in the Old Testament lesson from Isaiah (which parallels Jesus’ first sermon- Luke 4:16-21), we heard what this ministry was: Jubilee. You recall how in ancient Israel, every seventh day was a Sabbath- a day of spiritual rest and refreshment for everyone (the richest to the slave; men, women, foreigners, even animals). Every seventh year was also a Sabbath year, when the land was to rest. Seven Sabbath years would be every fifty years. (They counted from “one”, not “zero” as we do.) This Sabbath year of Sabbath years was the Jubilee year as described in Deuteronomy. Everyone had a fresh start- slaves were freed, land and belongings reverted back to the original owners, in other words- the basic concept of Jubilee was the great equalizer. Isaiah reminds us that the messiah would institute the Jubilee. Finally, in the Bible reading from the book of Acts, we heard the end of the encounter between Peter and the Roman (Gentile) offices, Cornelius. It’s this story that points out exactly what Jubilee meant when Peter tried to live it in his life in the first century and when we try to live it today. The modern day saint and hero who best typifies Jubilee was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday is January 15 (falls on a Friday this year). Our nation celebrates it the third Monday, which will fall on January 19th in 2015. Let’s look at the Acts story.
To understand the significance of Peter’s experience, you need to recall how Jews felt about Gentiles. Do you remember the extremely cruel childhood game of the so-and-so touch? It begins by a popular child touching a tormented, picked-on child, let’s call her “Judy”- I feel better using myself. The popular child then runs to catch another child and touches him or her, as in tag. However, here’s the difference- once you are tagged, you have the “Judy touch.” That’s how Jews felt about Gentiles. If even the shadow of a Gentile fell on a Jew, he or she was unclean and had to wash to cleanse himself or herself from the defilement of the “Gentile touch.” It goes without saying that Jews never ate with Gentiles or even considered inviting Gentiles into their homes. That’s the cultural background of the story. You see how their 1st century culture brainwashed them? We must be very careful that we don’t allow 21st century culture to brainwash us today. Well, the story from the book of Acts starts with Peter, who is visiting Simon, the tanner, asleep on the roof. In his dream- unless you want to call it a nightmare, Peter is famished. All of a sudden a huge sheet descends from heaven with many kinds of unclean animals on it. Peter hears a voice saying, “Arise, Peter, kill and eat.” Peter answers, “Lord, you know that I’ve never eaten anything unclean in my life.” The sheet goes back to heaven. Peter remains hungry. You know what happens- down comes the sheet again with the same words: “Arise, Peter, kill and eat.” Once again, Peter answers, “Lord, you know that I’ve never eaten anything unclean in my life.” Back goes the sheet up to heaven. Obviously, Peter is still very hungry, when- you know what happened- down comes the sheet again with the same words: “Arise, Peter, kill and eat.” Again Peter answered, “Lord, you know that I’ve never eaten anything unclean in my life.” This time, God responds: “Peter, don’t you ever call something unclean that I’ve created.” At once, Peter awakens to find two servants and one soldier of the Gentile, Cornelius, at his door. Cornelius was sending for Peter. Peter invited the Gentile guests to spend the night, then went with them to instruct and subsequently baptize Cornelius. That’s what happened before the Acts lesson when Peter proclaimed everyone equal- amazing insight for a first century Jewish man!
So, what’s the significance of this story in our own lives? We are citizens of a Kingdom in which everyone is equal; a Kingdom in which every day is a fresh start. Let’s be more specific. Who is your Cornelius? What kind of person is it that you just don’t like? Remember the sheet- everybody gets a fresh start- no one is unclean whom God has created. Here’s another possibility. To whom are you a Cornelius? Who treats you as if you aren’t quite as good as they are? Maybe it’s your color, maybe it’s your sex, maybe it’s your age, maybe it’s your educational level (too high or too low), maybe it’s how much money you have or don’t have (too rich or too poor), maybe it’s how you speak (too proper or not proper enough), maybe it’s your weight (too fat or too thin), etc. Remember the sheet- in God’s eyes there aren’t any “too anythings.” The ground is always level at the foot of the cross. Believe in your Creator, believe in yourself, and speak up. Maybe you don’t have any Cornelius’s and maybe you’ve never been a Cornelius to anyone else, but you can’t live long in this society without seeing someone treated like a Cornelius. That’s when your loyalty to Jesus and his mission comes in. No matter the cost, speak up. It’s not just Jesus who was called to institute Jubilee and justice, he does it through his followers- us.
I want to close with one of my favorite poems (one we’ve used every Epiphany 1 recently) by Howard Thurman, an African-American educator, poet, and mystic. This poem reminds us of our responsibilities as Christians to Jesus’ mission and its relationship to ChristMass:
“When the song of the angel is still,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among peoples,
To make music in the heart!”
My prayer is that we keep ChristMass, the real ChristMass, the Jubilee ChristMass all year long and all our lives long.
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .
Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan