“Enough: Simplicity & Financial Wisdom” a sermon on Luke 15:11-16 & Matthew 4:8-10

Luke 15:11-16
Matthew 4:8-10
“Enough: Simplicity & Financial Wisdom”
Preached Sunday, September 28, 2025

Today begins a three-week sermon series called, “Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity.” And I’d like to set the scene for this sermon series… As of June 2025, SSRS reports that 74% Americans are worried about the economy and 58% believe we are headed towards a recession. As of May 2024, PEw reports that only 4 in 10 Americans think they are in a good or excellent financial position.

We may hear the evening news or read the headlines and ask: How can we talk about “Enough” at a time like this? I would say that in uncertain times like these, these topics of conversation are more important than ever.

This sermon and worship series is not going to ignore that there are systemic issues that affect our cost of living, income, and overall well-being. By just our location in this country and in the global economy, we are put into a system that is beyond our control, and often has us in over our heads…and many of us are truly doing our best with the hand that was dealt to us.

And, it is at times like this, when the system is stacked against us - to consider what personal choices we can make and what voices we should be listening to - to cultivate contentment, joy, and generosity - in a world where the odds stacked against us.

We might need to acknowledge that the American Dream, for many, has become the American Nightmare.

By the American Dream I am not referring to the founding father’s dream of the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I am not referring to the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free…” I am not referring to Martin Luther King Jr’s dream of equality shared in his famous, “I have a dream…” speech. These are all “American dreams…” but when people talk about “THE American Dream” - it is usually in reference to suburban houses, white picket fences, and achieving a personal level of success where life is more than comfortable - where we have everything we need and more.

Alexis de Tocqueville, wrote in the 19th Century about Americans: “[they] are extremely eager in the pursuit of actual and physical gratification. As they are always dissatisfied with the position which they occupy…they think of nothing but the means of changing their fortune, or of increasing it…” While this was written almost 200 years ago, it could be said of us today.

Indeed this ideal of the American Dream and the pursuit of wealth in happiness brings us to the temptation of Jesus that we heard in the Gospel of Matthew today: “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him, “All these I will give you…’”

Every single day, multiple times a day, we are tempted to try and achieve all the kingdoms of the world and their glory…We are tempted by the American Dream of success being tied up with what we earn, what we spend, what we have.

Consider how many ads we see in a day. This week in response to getting a text message ad my one friend said, “I am tired of always trying to be sold something.” I get a bunch of text message ads so it made me wonder…how many ads do I see in a day? As I am writing this sermon I have several tabs open on my computer - social media, Google, the Bible gateway…my phone is sitting next to me. I decided to spend ten minutes looking at my open internet tabs and phone and counting every advertisement I saw. Friends, after three minutes, I was at 50 advertisements. I was so weary, I could not go 7 more minutes…I regularly look at my phone and computer much longer than this…but I have never stopped and counted the ads before. And here’s the really sad thing, I took a typical day of phone use and saw that I was on social media for about an hour and a half abd on Google for a half hour…so just on my phone usage alone that would even out to maybe…1500 ads a day. That is not even counting “Influencers” - people whose whole job it is to create posts on social media to sell your products or ideologies in ways that don’t look like ads. In addition, the day before writing this sermon I got half a dozen ads via text, and 50 promotional emails. Now, before you say, “I’m not on social media” - consider the ads you see on TV, the product placements, billboards, radio commercials, and more… Google will tell you that we see or hear anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 ads a day.


This is part of what makes the American Dream, the American Nightmare. We are constantly being sold something. But behind each advertisement we see is the voice telling us: if we just bought this product, if we just signed up for this service…we could finally be happy. We could finally have enough. We could have finally made it…but of course, that’s not how any of this works. The promise of more never stops. We spend beyond our means, hoping this next purchase will finally be the one…it never is. As a society, we have so much stuff, too much stuff, that we can’t even store it all in our homes. In 2025, there is 2.3 billion square feet of self-storage space in America. In Boardman, we see how many self-storage facilities there are in our area alone. This drive for more is called “Affluenza” - and it is being facilitated by another illness - credit-itis. As of mid-2025, total U.S. credit card debt is around $1.21 trillion. I literally gasped when I first read this number.

We become wasteful in our pursuit of happiness. In pursuit of “enough.”

Which brings us to the second Scripture we read today, “The prodigal son.” We often think that “prodigal” means one who wanders…but Prodigal means “wasteful” - a son who thought he could finally be happy, go and have fun - and maybe we did for a time, but before long, his wastefulness left him lost, alone, and hungry…

There are more statistics I could share…These illnesses of affluenza and credititis - along with the systemic issues of inflation and a growing class gap - have left us wrung out, in dire straits, and unhappy in body and spirit. We may have to admit that not only is our system broken, but the sin inside of us, which distorts our desires, leaves us broken on the inside as well. We talk about the seven deadly sins and at least three of them are related to money and possession - envy (wanting what another has), greed (an intense desire for more), and gluttony (the desire to keep on consuming). We are valuing wealth, material goods, the pursuit of external happiness…over what Christ has to offer: gratitude, thanksgiving, contentment, joy - and yes, even generosity - for generosity can happen in any financial situation - what Christ offers us is simply “enough.”

When the devil offers Jesus the riches and Kingdoms of this world…the same offer is being made to us every day. And when we say yes, it enslaves us to sin. It puts a chokehold on us that cuts the Good News and the freedom of the Gospel out of our lives. This is what Jesus meant by the parable of the sower when he said some seeds fell among the thorns and weeds. Jesus says, “As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”

So…what’s the solution?

It’s 2-Fold, practical and spiritual.

For the practical - look at what is within your control.

Plan for generosity first. Put God first in your budget and planning.
1. Create a budget - a plan for both where you need and want your resources to go.
2. Simplify your life. Look for ways to live below your means.
3. Work towards establishing an emergency fund to help cut down on credititis.
4. Look closely at the ways you use credit cards - create a plan to pay off debt.
5. Find ways to save for the future.

On the practical end, for myself, this week was a wake up call to how much I am the target of the constant bombardment for more. I am going to be installing ad blockers, setting screen time limits on my phone (again), and work on having intentional phone free Sabbath time. I am tired of being seen only as a consumer. I want to be seen as a child of God. This ties the practical to the spiritual. The world we live in will often reduce my worth to what I earn, what I consume, and thus how much I drive the economy. This has a negative effect on my soul. I was not made by God to just be a maker and spender of money. United Methodist pastor, Adam Hamilton writes, “We were created to care for God’s creation. We were created to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We were created to care for our families and those in need. We were created to glorify God, to seek justice, and to do mercy….if this is our life purpose, then our money and possessions should be devoted to helping us fulfill this calling. We are to use our resources to help care for our families and others - to serve Christ and the world through the church, missions, and every day opportunities.” This understanding bridges the practical and the spiritual.

And, of course, the spiritual solution:

1. Admit to God that we all need help. That we have placed the pursuit of happiness in material gain over love of God and love of neighbor.
2. Seek God first. Seek God’s Kingdom and strive to do God’s will.
3. God’s will for us is to glorify God, seek justice, and do mercy. Look hard at your whole life as to how you are using all that you are and all that you have to achieve this.
4. And perhaps, most radically, start praying to God for contentment. Acknowledge that all that you already have - may be more than “Enough.” Indeed, if we only had Christ - it would be enough.

May it be so. Amen.

Call to Worship - Stewardship

Leader: We come to worship this morning, seeking to be more like Christ.
People: We want to be fashioned after Jesus.
L: Jesus was called beloved in his Baptism.
P: We too are beloved by God.
L: Jesus was forgiving and merciful.
P: We too seek to forgive as we have been forgiven.
L: Jesus was generous, sharing bread with the poor.
P: We too seek to be defined by generosity.
L: In all Jesus did - he pointed to God the Father.
P: May all of our lives and actions point back to our God.
All: May we be more like Christ. Amen.

Call to Worship inspired by Psalm 63

Leader: We come to worship this morning, longing for contentment.
People: Our souls seek satisfaction in the Lord.
L: And so together, we will echo the words of the Psalmist:
P: “O God, you are my God; I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
L: …My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
P: …for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
L: My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.”
All: May we find contentment and satisfaction in our God. Amen.

Call to Worship - Stewardship

Leader: We come to worship today seeking wisdom.
People: What does our Scripture say?
L: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.” (1 Timothy 6:10)
P: We come to worship today, seeking wisdom. What does our Scripture say?
L: “As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” (Luke 8:14)
P: We come to worship today - longing for wisdom to guide us on a path of simplicity and joy. What does our Scripture say?
L: “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?’” (Matthew 16:24-26a)
P: These teachings aren’t easy! Yet we know they are wise and true.
L: Our God calls us to a better way of life - a way of self-denial, yes - and also a way of simplicity, contentment, generosity, and joy.
All: May we worship our God who guides us all with holy wisdom. Amen.

“Which One of You…?” a sermon on Luke 15:1-10

Luke 15:1-10
“Which One of You…?”
Preached Sunday, September 14, 2025

Which one of you, when you lost a 25 dollar coffee gift card that you got for your birthday, and you’re worried it got thrown out with the birthday cards, would not carefully comb through the trash and recycling bins until it was found? And once it was found, who among you would not buy drinks for everyone who came into the coffee shop that morning to celebrate together?

Which one of you, when your child lost their school binder, would not, together with them, search the whole house for it, looking under the bed, and in the laundry piles, and sort through all the papers on the kitchen table and when you finally find it, would not throw a party to celebrate for their whole grade?

Which one of you, say you owned a small book shop that had 2000 books in it, if you lost one box of paperbacks, would not conduct a thorough search of every nook and cranny of the store until you found them, and then throw a block party with a sale to celebrate?

The answer to this is…uh…probably none of you!

I’d be sad to lose a 25 dollar coffee gift card. God knows I spend too much on Starbucks and at some local coffee places, but to buy coffee for everyone who came in that morning to celebrate? It’s a nice gesture - sure, and my last church did that as an outreach opportunity at a local coffee shop but it was planned generosity. To do it to celebrate finding 25 dollars? I’d be spending a lot more than I found.

A school binder may be important but it can be replaced. Teachers can be talked to. Work can be made up or minor consequences faced. A parent and a child may still deem it important enough to search the whole house for it…but when it’s found? A party for the whole grade? Heck, even a party for the whole class would still be over the top and much more costly and much more work than replacing a binder.

And the last one, well, to my knowledge none of us here today are the owners of a small book shop. As someone who owns a lot of books, if you are, please see me. I want to go and buy more books from you. But I thought it was important to give an example with someone’s livelihood. So if you were to imagine you owned a small bookshop…surely the loss of one small box of merchandise would not outweigh the cost of a party and a sale!

With these modern day examples in mind, let’s hear Jesus’s words anew:

“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’”

“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’”

A person who has 99 sheep is a person of modest means. To put 99 at risk by leaving them to go search for one…well, it is doubtful that many shepherds would do that. And beyond that, by throwing a party once the sheep is found, the cost of the party would have outweighed the cost of a lost sheep.

And a woman with ten coins, she lights a lamp - not as easy as flicking on a light switch - using up the resource of oil - to give a diligent search for the one lost coin. 10 coins, or drachmas, would have been equivalent to ten days wages. She is searching for the equivalent of one day’s labor. She finds it! She then throws a celebration - of which the cost of hosting and feeding her neighbors and friends, would have cost much more than the one coin lost and found.

When Jesus says, “which one of you” or “what woman…” to the crowd - he is not expecting anyone to actually say, “Me! Me! I would do that!” Quite the opposite. They would look at each other and think, “Are you crazy, Jesus?” That’s over the top, extravagant, wasteful… But Jesus is saying, in essence - “None of you may be this kind of person. But I am.”

And that, honestly…probably doesn’t help Jesus’s reputation! In Luke 7 Jesus is called a “drunkard and a glutton” - he’s always at a party. The Gospel of Luke has at least five accounts where he’s at different dinner parties and he uses the examples of parties not just in this parable but in others as well - he even calls heaven a big lavish wedding banquet. What can I say - Jesus went where the people who needed his message were - and that was often at a party. Our God in Jesus is revealed to be a joyful God who knows how to have fun. I am actually going to re-iterate that because we so often lose this image of Jesus: Our God in Jesus is revealed to be a joyful God who knows how to have fun!

And in the telling of this parable, Jesus is inviting those who are throwing accusations at him, to move from grumbling to joy.

Our Gospel lesson started this morning with setting the context and the audience of this parable: “Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” And so Jesus told them the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin…and actually the lost son as well, although our Scripture reading this morning didn’t continue on.

They were grumbling…because Jesus was including those they excluded. Tax collectors were generally reviled and, of course, “sinners” is a blanket term here but not applied to the “good upstanding community” that the Pharisees and the scribes saw themselves as part of.

Jesus in turn tells them what kind of man he is - and what kind of God is revealed in him:

God revealed in Jesus tells us that God is joyful and looks for every and any chance to celebrate.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God welcomes all - and even especially - those on the outskirts of society.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God is the Good Shepherd who cares for each and everyone of his sheep - including and especially the wayward ones.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God is persistent and diligent in caring for and searching for each and every one of us.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God gives no heed to the cost of lavishing love and joy on each of us.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God who finds the lost and celebrates without restraint.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God is inviting us to move from grumbling to joy. From being concerned with “the right kind of people” to welcoming and including all.

Friends, I know my job as a preacher is to preach the Good News to you - to proclaim the Gospel. But this morning I have a bit of bad news for you…did you know that church people, “the right kind of people”, us here today…do you know that we have a reputation for being grumblers? It’s easy for us to think we would be at the party with Jesus, or with the choirs of angels erupting at the Good News of the lost sinner being found…but if we’re being honest, a good number of us would be grumbling with the scribes and the Pharisees.

We grumble…that that one ministry team is spending money on x, y, or z.
We grumble…that the pastor is spending too much time on that ministry area and not this ministry area.
We grumble…the church is starting to welcome those kinds of people (maybe like tax collectors and sinners..)
We grumble…that things aren’t like they were several decades ago.
We grumble… because we’d rather the church would look more like the church of yesterday than the church of today or the church of the future.
We grumble, we nitpick, we complain. It’s very common in churches - because it’s contagious too. One dose of negativity and complaining can spread like wildfire. The Good News is - Jesus invites us to move from grumbling to joy. And joy is more contagious than grumbling. Joy is also more inviting than grumbling. Grumbling gives the church a bad name - who wants to be part of a community that is filled with negativity? But the Good News - that our God is a God who celebrates you without restraint, who searches for you regardless of cost, who rejoices in you being present in Christian community with one another, who welcomes you - and goes out of the way to be welcoming to you? That is Good News that people need to hear. And it is the Good News we are working together to proclaim as a Christian community!

Jesus is inviting the scribes and the Pharisees and us here today…to look more like Jesus. To move from grumbling to joy. To be more vile in our embrace of all people.

Some history to explain what I mean by “be more vile.”

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, started as an upstanding and well-regarded clergy person. He was a fellow at Oxford. He was a proper Anglican clergyman. And then…he found that his message of adherence to his faith, to preach to those marginalized by society, to care for the last lost and the least, and to spread this message to as many people as possible - even outside the church doors…he found this started to affect his reputation. People started to grumble. And John had to decide - do things the “proper” and “right” way - or become more vile - more base - more common - for the Good News of the Gospel.

When John Wesley made a decision to preach outdoors - again, doesn't sound that radical to us but was considered paramount to a sin, paramount to eating and drinking with tax collectors, he wrote in his journal - "At four in the afternoon, I submitted to be more vile and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation..."

Here is an example of the grumblings that were happening as Wesley sided with those that were considered sinners and outcasts by society - and in one particular case, was supporting a man who was accused of and imprisoned for homesexuality. This complaint about Wesley was printed in the newspaper:

“Wesley and his Oxford friends’ eccentricities might…be tolerated - their excessive religious observance, their closed group intensity, their self-denial and strict code of living reminiscent of some of the wayward Puritan sects of the previous century. Even their lowering themselves to undertake good works in the prisons and workhouse was not beyond the pale. But it seems that when they took up the advocacy of a man accused of homosexual crimes they crossed the boundary between the bizarre but tolerable to the reprehensible.” (Reference: Wesleyan Vile-Tality by Ashley Boggan)

Can you hear the grumbling?

I’d like to take a moment and take the grumbling and change it to joy…

Wesley and the group that formed the first Methodists…they took living out their faith seriously! They prayed and studied the Bible and took Communion regularly with one another! And they humbled themselves to be in solidarity and serve with the last, the lost, and the least - those in prisons and workhouses and even those mistreated and abused for who they are. They used their voices to give voice to the voiceless and they did this all while proclaiming the Good news of Jesus Christ! They took to the streets - standing on the corners and preaching to large crowds - Jesus welcomes you! Jesus rejoices over you when you turn to him! They made themselves more vile for the sake of the Gospel and all of heaven threw a celebration!!

Oh that such things would be said about us here at Boardman United Methodist Church. May we be more vile in sharing the Good News. May we lower ourselves to what was previously unthinkable to welcome all who need the Gospel. May be filled with the joy and celebration that modeling Christ’s radical embrace brings.

Which one of you would…? May we all.

Amen.

Call to Worship Inspired by Luke 16:1-13

Leader: We come to worship this morning: forgiven, loved, and freed.
People: May we forgive others.
L: We come to worship this morning: forgiven, loved, and freed.
P: May we love others.
L: We come to worship this morning: forgiven, loved, and freed.
P: May we offer freedom to others.
L: We come to worship this morning: forgiven, loved, and freed.
P: May we worship our God who offers us forgiveness, love, and freedom.
All: Amen.

“Hospitality & Welcoming Children” a sermon on Luke 18:15-17

Luke 18:15-17
“Hospitality & Welcoming Children”
Preached Sunday, September 7, 2025

Wow. What a morning.

We’ve blessed bookbags. We’ve prayed for students, preschoolers, teachers, Sunday school volunteers, and more. We’ve heard about how we can support our local schools - and collected the Noisy Bucket for one specific school. We’ve given out Bibles to third graders - and committed to continue to walk alongside them in faith. We’ve blessed the Pray-Ground, the Family Seating Area, which sends a strong message of welcome to families & children. If you haven’t read this month’s newsletter, I’d invite you to do so as there is an article answering some Frequently Asked Questions about this new area. After church we will invite everyone to go down to the children’s Sunday School Area & Childcare areas and bless those areas. As of today, we have Youth Discipleship Bags for Youth - 6th grade and up - who wish to remain in worship. They and their families have the option to consider what is best for them and their journey with Christ at this age - to go to Children’s Sunday School or join the wider worshipping community on Sunday mornings. We are also continuing to work on our Youth Room and will have a time to bless and celebrate that space once it’s completed - and our new Youth Group launches next week! Not to mention or 5th Sunday Family Gatherings which is still a new ministry and our new Young Adult Group which is having their second meeting ever next week…And there are have been people working so hard to line all this up and make all this happen - and they will be people being faithful in following through and supporting these ministries and all in them. Today in worship is just the tip of the iceberg of how this church is faithfully working to welcome children, youth, families, and young people. And ALL people - regardless of age.

So again - let me say - wow. What a morning.

I could not be more proud of the way we are moving and working together for hospitality and Christian welcome in this church. Actually - can we pause here, before we go any further - it’s a little self-congratulatory, but I really am so so so proud of us, how far we’ve come together and the dreams and goals we have that will take us even farther. Can you please give yourselves a round of applause? You all deserve it for your faithfulness in ministry together.

And so, this morning I want to talk about the Gospel message and Jesus’s statement: “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”

Let’s start with that last sentence. Receiving the Kingdom of God as a little child is often misconstrued as believing in Jesus, having faith in God, buying into our whole faith…without asking any questions. And to those preachers and interpreters who have espoused this, to them I want to ask, “have you ever met a little child?” Children are FULL of questions. And questions about God too. Even as a pastor I often get thrown off by all the questions I am asked and how to answer them.

Examples of rapid fire questions I’ve received: “Did God make the world? How long did it take for God to make the world? Did God make cities? Did God make dinosaurs? Why did the dinosaurs die? Did God make bad people? Did God teach us about bad people? Why are there bad people? Can I have a snack?”

And I’ve barely started answering…and the questions just keep coming.

No, receiving the Kingdom of God as a little child is not about asking questions or not… I think it’s about moving forward, entering into the Kingdom of God - that is, getting to know God and the world that God desires for us - with excitement, curiosity, and openness. When I think of little children - and what I experience here with BUMP kids - is certainly this - excitement to know God - and an openness to being loved. By God, by adults in their lives who love God, and even by one another.

Now, in his statement, Jesus says that whoever does not RECEIVE the Kingdom of God as a little child cannot enter it. In order to receive means that someone has to give. The gift ultimately comes from God but the responsibility to pass on that gift falls on our shoulders. Deuteronomy 6 tells us: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.”

In order for little ones to receive the gift of the Kingdom of God - we have to be the ones extending the invitation. In order for little ones to enter into the Kingdom, we have to be the ones welcoming them in with open arms and hearts.

Unfortunately, this can be a struggle for some people and some Christian communities. And it always has been. Remember Jesus’s harsh words in Matthew, a different version of the events from our reading from Luke today:

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things are bound to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!’”

Woe to those who put stumbling blocks before children, who bar them from receiving the Good News that they are children of God, loved and welcomed in…Such things are bound to happen…but may they never happen from us and our community.

We are called to welcome children into the Kingdom of God, to welcome them into our Christian community, and whenever we welcome a child into our midst, we are welcoming Jesus himself among us. There is the old church adage, “If the church ain’t crying, it’s dying.” I would also urge us to every single time we hear the noise of a little one in church we think - that is the voice of God among us.

It is this simple. And it is this beautiful: when we welcome children among us - we welcome God among us.

And who in turn loves the child, they are loving as God loves, and will come to know Jesus through the child - even as we teach that child about Jesus.

In the church, we have the tremendous responsibility, privilege, and joy - to teach children about God and that they are loved - by God and by us. We are called to accept children as they are…and this is decidedly not the old school mentality of children being meant to be seen and not heard. This is not the love, acceptance, and celebration of children that Jesus has when he says, “let the children come to me.” He does not say, “let the children come to me as long as they are in their Sunday best and behave and are quiet.” No, he says, “let the children come to me.” There are no qualifying statements - just to let them come, let them be welcomed in, let them receive, let them be loved.

We are called to welcome children.
Children with sticky fingers.
Children with interrupting voices.
Children with a million questions.
Children who want to go completely off script during the children’s moment.
Children who are trying to break free from the pew and run down the aisle.
Children who are unable to contain their excitement in the Communion line - oh if only we all approached the altar with such unrestrained joy!
Children with their deep desire and need to be known for who they are and loved.
Children as they are.
Children as God made them to be.
We are called to welcome them - and in turn, welcome Jesus.

Not only are we to accept children as they are - we are also to become more like them. What would it look like for all of us, of absolutely any age, to come here, to come to worship, to come to church, as our whole selves?

To come, even if it's been a really bad week.
To come, even if we want to cry.
To come, even if we didn't have time to shower this morning… Or even access to a shower…
To come, even if we didn’t have the mental energy to make ourselves presentable.
To come, with a million questions…And to still come anyway.
To come overflowing with excitement, because we know that this is a place where we are wholly accepted as we are.
To come, because we recognize that we too are beloved children of God. We are seen as children in God’s eyes and we are loved just like a child - wholly and unconditionally. God welcomes us with open arms.

When we welcome children just as they are…we will learn to welcome ourselves just as we are. Welcome others just as they are. To see ourselves and others, regardless of age, as beloved children of God.

This is an immense responsibility. And it also is an immense joy.
I pray that we here at Boardman UMC will be blessed - blessed with the sounds of children, blessed by seeing God in them and through them. Blessed that by welcoming children with open arms - we would find that God welcomes us, as children of God, with open and loving arms.

May it be so. Amen.

Call to Worship inspired by Luke 15:1-10

Leader: Jesus is a God of great joy!
People: He welcomes all with open arms!
L: When the lost sheep is found,
P: He throws a party!
L: When the lost coin is found,
P: He had a celebration!
L: And when people grumbled about sinners being welcomed…
P: He invites us to rejoice with him!
L: For what was lost has been found.
All: Let us worship with great joy! Amen.

“Overlooked Stories: Eutchyus” a sermon on Acts 20:7-12

Acts 20:7-12
“Overlooked Stories: Eutchyus”
Preached Sunday, August 31, 2025

When I was interning at a church in seminary and just starting to preach on a regular basis, a retired minister gave me this advice: “If someone is asleep during your sermon, God knows that person needs rest more than they need your words.”

To be clear…as far as I know, no one was actually sleeping during my sermons…but it made me laugh and reflect on a deep appreciation for those who come to church…even when they are tired. I’ve said this to people throughout my years of standing in pulpits…should sleep take you during a sermon - God perhaps gave you that sleep as a gift.

But really, let’s be honest here, while my sermons are no great show of entertainment, I would hope they aren’t overly boring and at the very least - are not overly long! If I pastor can’t say it in about 15 minutes - then maybe it doesn’t need to be said…

I digress. I say all this because in our reading from Acts this morning, Paul has talked for several hours. We don’t know exactly when Paul started preaching but they gathered for dinner and he was still going come midnight.

It was at this point that Eutychus fell asleep. Unfortunately for him, he did not fall asleep on a hardbacked pew where he might just be a little sore the next day…he fell asleep during Paul’s long speech…and fell three stories to his death. We don’t have many people who sit in the balcony these days and maybe this is why…are you all awake up there? Yeah? All right then - be careful!

Now, Paul stopped preaching, rushed down to Eutchyus, and said “He’s good!” and raised him from the dead. They then sent Eutchyus home and Paul preached through the whole night until morning…

This story could be taken many ways. It could shine the light on Paul’s authority as an apostle - even having the ability to raise people from the dead in the name of Jesus! It could act as a warning for spiritual awareness… I would like to use the story of Eutchyus this morning, not really to talk about him as a Biblical character, as we have the others in this “Overlooked Stories” sermon series…but to look at him as a metaphor of those who “fall from the faith,” “fall from the church,” or de-construct their faith.

How many of you have heard of the term “deconstruction” in regards to one’s beliefs or faith? It basically means exactly what you think it means - if construction is building up - deconstruction would be, tearing down, building down - it means looking at your faith, the Scripture, religion, etc critically - examining each part and, if it doesn’t make sense, doesn’t help, doesn’t lead to abundant life, putting it aside.

In seminary they often make the joke that the whole first year is deconstruction and then the next two years are re-construction.

But I have seen so many of my peers - people my age, give or take some years - I’ve seen them deconstruct, and not be able, willing to, want to reconstruct - and thus they leave behind the church, leave behind their faith. Often these things are tied together. Sometimes they aren’t. They either become the “dones” as in - those done with church and faith and God - or Spiritual nomads - not done with God but not feeling like there is a church or community where they belong.

And part of this is, I don’t think it’s often a “neat” deconstruction but it’s that they fall three stories - or more - from the church, as Eutychus did. Or perhaps even, their faith crumbles around them, and they “fall” in the process.

I want to examine this concept today in light of the story of Eutychus to get us thinking about our own faiths, the faith we pass on, and how we are called to treat those who fall from their faith - or those whose faith crumbles around them.

Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that examines the concept of knowledge. It makes us ask questions like, “How does knowledge work?” “How do we know something is true?” For a long time, epistemology has considered knowledge to be like a wall. You lay a sturdy foundation of knowledge, facts, concepts…and then build another layer on top of that, another lay on top of that, another lay on top of that…you get the point. This is often how we have thought of faith construction too - lay a firm foundation and then build upon it. We even sing hymns about that, don’t we? “The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ the Lord…” Our reading from 1 Peter talks about Christ as a cornerstone and our faith being a building…which really, is just a bunch of walls with a roof.

Let’s talk for a moment and talk about faith as a wall and see how this affects us…and understand how people can fall from this faith and their faith fall to the ground around them.

Let’s build a wall of faith together. Let’s try and build a life-giving faith. A faith that is built on God’s love….that God loves you. Period. That you are a beloved child of God. Full stop. That’s the bottom layer.

And we go up from there.

The greatest commandments, love of God - love of neighbor as self
As Jesus says in Mark 9 and Matthew 25 - have you given a glass of water to someone who was thirsty…
What else? - the imago dei, we are made in the image of God
How we treat others
How we view and interact with Scripture
What our faith says on this issue and that issue

As we go up it gets less and less core value stuff here - right?

So let’s say - let’s say this is someone’s faith - started in childhood - and they are beginning to question their faith, to look at their faith critically, to see how it gives them life and gives it to them abundantly - they might deconstruct some things - I certainly did - we all do this, really - it’s part of growing up and claiming our faith as our own.

So...we pull a piece out - say what the church teaches about LGBTQ people. Or how we understand how the Bible was written - OH Queer people are made in the image of God and loved by God? Cool! The first 5 books weren’t actually written by Moses? I can live with that! The Rapture? - Yeah, that one is getting tossed out...and we deconstruct and continue to re-construct our faith…right, we may add things to our faith, too - not just take them out. Things like…faith practices of serving others or daily rituals or habits of prayer we didn’t have as a child…so we de-construct and we may also re-construct, the shape of our faith is changing, because God is ever complex, and we’re trying to make sense of God in our world with evil and pain, and we’re holding things in tension, learning, un-learning, re-learning…- cause see - we have this solid foundation. And even if some of the top layers fall over, or pieces fall off…we still have that base, right?

But - what if the faith passed down to us - the faith we learned from others - wasn’t primarily based on God’s love, on being loved by God, on loving God and loving neighbor, on giving water to those who are thirsty, on being made in the image of God?

I would like to believe that is the faith I am trying to teach my children. I would like to believe that that is the faith that all of us first encountered in childhood…but that’s probably not the case. Statistically it’s not. In 2009 a study was done that was published in the book, Soul Searching. It found that for the majority of Christians in America, our faith could be summarized with a three word term: “moralistic therapeutic deism.” in other words - faith makes us do the right things (moralistic); it brings us comfort (therapeutic) and, well…there may be a God that is far away and comes after the other two things (deism). The foundation that the church in America has been laying for many years is not based on who God is - that God is love, that God is Good, that God is Just and Powerful and Joyful and with Us, that Jesus is Lord… the foundation isn’t actually based on Christ at all. The foundation that most of us received - and that most will receive is simply this - “Follow the rules and be a good kid.”

And that might even be a best case scenario for some people. What if the foundation that was given to you, taught to you was more about…


Who is the greatest - well, Christians
About Who is in and who is out
About following unquestionable authority of the pastor, of the church, of the Bible
About shame
About fear - from hellfire, from not being loved for being who you are

And as you get older - you realize that not only is this not good for you - it’s harming you and you start deconstructing...

And you’re pulling out pieces left and right and your discarding them - and you’re at a loss and you don’t feel God’s love - especially not from the church that passed on this faith - and you’re pulling our pieces and looking at them and discarding them and pulling them out and pulling them out and the whole thing just falls.

Your faith is in shambles around you, perhaps like the body of Eutchyus who fell from the third floor window…and no one is coming to resurrect you or to help you pick up the pieces of the faith…so it’s easier to just…walk away. And leave a dead faith behind.

How many of us know someone that this has happened to? Too many, too many.

We’re…just gonna leave this here for now.

In her book, “Woven: Nurturing a Faith Your Kid Doesn’t Have To Heal From,” author Meredith Miller, offers us some hope as we look at the pieces of people’s faith that have fallen all around us…she says in her book that faith doesn’t have to be a wall…it can be a web. Webs don’t have foundations. They have core anchor threads that hold the web in place and then internal strands that give it shape and beauty. Moreover, in a web, strands can hold tension and stretch - even without breaking. But if a strand does break, the web doesn't fall apart - it holds together while the spider can re-weave it and make it stronger than before.

When considering the shape of our faith - a wall or a web, Miller puts it like this: “If our faith is a wall, and we learn something new that contradicts our old beliefs about God, we may think the whole thing needs to come down. But our faith isn’t a wall, it’s a web, and sometimes strands break and need to be replaced because they just aren’t true or because they just don’t work anymore. We realize our ways of seeing God don’t match our reality, our ways of experiencing God don’t work like they used to. Our versions of gathered community and collect worship need reimagining. Those strands break, and we can rebuild new strands based on the other parts of the web that are still true, because the whole thing hasn’t unraveled.”

This is all in the abstract so let me give an example: “We may have grown up being told the Bible was trustworthy because of its literal accuracy. But then we hear sermons suggesting that Biblical events are told in a style reflective of the ancient Near East, with its distinct literary styles and genres, meaning, perhaps some events did not literally occur as described. The strand of literalism may break, but other strands- Scripture can be trusted, the God we meet in Scripture can be trusted- keep our web intact while we re-weave our Biblical perspective.”

So Miller stresses that our anchor strands of our web need to be about God and who God is. And whether we are using the analogy of a web of a wall this is vital to a faith that will last. We can only follow God and obey God if we know God and trust God. The anchor strands that Miller suggests are that God is Good, God is Powerful, God is Just, God is Joyful, God is With Us, and that Jesus is Lord.

A faith either built upon or weaved around these core truths about God is certainly one that can weather storms or changes in our world or thinking - for who God is remains steadfast.

So not only does thinking about our faith in this way give us pause as to how we teach the faith we wish to pass on…it should also give us compassion for those who have de-constructed or who have had their faith fall down around them…

Are we coming to the aid of Eutchyus after his three story fall?

And when we get to where he fell, get down to his level - do we scold him for falling asleep during the preaching? Admonish him to act and behave as Good Christian boys and girls do, tell him he must not have believed “hard enough”?…or do we ask why he fell asleep? Do we ask why his faith fell down around him? Do we show compassion and care for his wounds, for “church hurt,” show understanding, willingness even to change our structures and the faith we passed on or inherited… Do we speak Life into what Died? Do we offer to help pick up the pieces, to go slowly, to re-build or re-weave together, journey together in getting to know who God is again…a God that is Good and a God who is Loving…

We are called to show compassion to those who fall from faith or who have their faith fall down around them. We are called to journey together, to discover who God is together, to weave together faiths that are life giving and support one another. It’s not easy…and yet, it’s the work we are called to do. To run down the three flights of stairs, pick up those who have fallen, and continue sharing a God of Love and Life.

May it be so. Amen.

“Overlooked Stories: Joseph of Arimathea” a sermon on Luke 23:44-56 & Romans 12:9-18

Luke 23:44-56
Romans 12:9-18
“Overlooked Stories: Joseph of Arimathea”
Preached Sunday, August 24, 2025

This morning in our Overlooked Stories sermon series, we are finally turning our attention to the New Testament and to Joseph of Arimathea. As we start this sermon, I’d invite you to enter a “Good Friday” state of mind. Good Friday is the Friday before Easter where we remember and recount the crucifixion and death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The evening before we observed Maundy or Holy Thursday and that service ends with the stripping of the altar - in this church, that service happens in our chapel. And every item is carried out - the Bible, the candles, the cross, the paraments upon the pulpit and altar…It is a quiet and subdued moment to watch our finery, our decorations, or items of great symbolic meaning and comfort to be carried out of the sanctuary…and we are left with a stark, bare altar.

And so when worshippers come to Good Friday service, there is a subdued atmosphere. We know that the Biblical story we will hear that evening will touch our hearts. It may dampen our eyes. We come, stripped bare like the altar, open and vulnerable, to the story of violence against the forces of Love. And yet we come open - ready to hear how even this can be Good News, how even in the darkest moments, even in the very midst of death, there is Love.

And so. This morning is a normal Sunday morning. The altar is beautiful, the cross and Bible upon it, the candles are lit, the paraments hang from the pulpit and lectern. And we came this morning to hear the Gospel - but maybe haven’t prepared ourselves to hear the hard words of our reading from Luke this morning, of Jesus hanging on a cross.

And so, I invite us, in this moment, to pivot. To imagine our altar stripped bare and the lights dimmed. And then reflect that openness in our own souls and minds - to enter into the Good Friday mindset, to reflect on all the power and emotions of that day.

For that is where Joseph of Arimathea enters the story. On that dark, violent day.

Joseph is a member of the Sanhedrin - the council that condemned Jesus, handed him over to the Romans, to be crucified by the State. In the Scriptures, Joseph doesn’t appear at all until after the death of Jesus. And yet, we can use our Biblical imaginations to wonder what role Joseph played up until this point. In the Gospel of John, Joseph, with Nicodemus, the secret follower of Jesus who came to Jesus at night - asking him how one is born again - buried Jesus’s body together. This makes us wonder - was Joseph a secret follower of Jesus too? How open was he in his following of Jesus? Was he curious?

The TV show The Chosen, which is a dramatization of the Gospels, showed the events of Palm Sunday this last season. Yossif, a rabbi, disguised himself as a member of the crowd, to experience the crowds and Jesus himself. And he is obviously moved by the man who is Jesus. As the Sandhedrin gathers to plot against Jesus, Yossif speaks up for Jesus - saying, “don’t you see the good this man is doing?”

This is, of course, Biblical imagination. I wonder if Joseph had encountered Jesus before that bloody day on the cross. I wonder if Joseph spoke up on Jesus’s behalf before his peers. I wonder if, perhaps Joseph wanted to, but as the conversation turned to plotting and talks of violence, was he afraid to stand up for a man such as Jesus? Maybe one that captivated him and he respected - but a rebel rouser none the less. Maybe he kept silent, fearing for his own reputation and even his physical safety.

We don’t know.

What we do know, is that as Jesus hung on the cross, so many of his followers abandoned him. I don’t want to say all of his followers abandoned him, because the women were there, watching, staying with Jesus. But the men, perhaps except John, depending on which Gospel you are reading, they fled. They fled, they lied, they rejected Jesus by their words and actions - forsaking him in his darkest moments, for fear of their own safety, for fear of their own lives. And so, Jesus is left. Broken and bloodied, dead on the cross, with no one there to care for his body, his corpse.

Here is what we do know about Joseph of Arimethea. Whether he had spoken publicly about Jesus or not before. Whether he had publicly aligned himself with Jesus before. He did so now. At perhaps the most dangerous time to do so. He knew that all that was threats and talks about violence against Jesus and his followers - it was no longer just a threat or a possibility, it was very real and very threatening.

And yet, and yet. It is now, here, at the end of this terrifying and horrific violence, that Joseph goes to Pilate, and asks for the body of Jesus. He publicly aligns himself with this man who was just rejected by the Sanhedrin, labeled as an enemy of the Empire, tortured and killed. Why? Why now? I wonder back to his role on the council, on the Sanhedrin. Is he wishing he had spoken up then but didn’t? Is he mad that he did speak up and wasn’t listened to? Is he horrified that this violence, this murder, this state execution…was done in his name? Is he seeking redemption, forgiveness? Was he so moved by Jesus on the cross, that even now, when all hope seems lost, he can’t help but go and be the one to care for his body?

Not only was this act a dangerous one, making himself vulnerable by aligning himself with a man who was just executed…it was also gruesome and messy work.

Our Scripture says, “Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid.” “It” is the body of Jesus. The body of Jesus that had been lashed. That had thorns pressed into his head. That had nails in his hands and feet. That had asphyxiated on the cross as it hung. That had a spear pierced his side.

Joseph is the one who takes his body down from the cross.

This is not an act that can be done without getting dirty. The reality of dealing with a fresh corpse is always messy, it is always gruesome. In our day and age, we normally have medical staff who deal with this reality, sparing us from the physical realities of dead bodies. But that was not the case with the body of Jesus. To take Jesus off the cross and carry him to the tomb, to clean and wrap his body…

Joseph did not leave this experience unmarred - emotionally, spiritually, or physically. He had to get close to the reality of Jesus’s deceased body. We sing about being washed in the blood of Jesus - far removed from the horror that is actually having the blood of another human being covering you. Joseph was covered in blood. On his clothes, on his hands, the smell of it in his nostrils. And how heavy is a dead body? Joseph carried that body, his muscles aching, his body straining. There is nothing romantic in this imagery - it was hard, manual, messy labor. I wonder if Joseph had dreams about that day...reliving the horror of it, as he cared for this man’s body, a man who either through Joseph’s inaction or through him not being listened to - was condemned to death.

This was a dangerous and messy act that Joseph did - for Jesus. And there is really only one explanation as to why he would put himself at risk and enter into the full physicality of caring for the body of Jesus - Love. Love for this man and the message he preached. Love for doing what is right. Love of God, love of neighbor, love even of enemy - for perhaps Jesus and Joseph may have been described as enemies at some point. But Joseph was changed by Jesus, by the death of Jesus - even before the resurrection - which Joseph did not know was going to come - Joseph was changed…and so he cared for the corpse, when all others abandoned Jesus, Joseph was the one who stepped into the messy post-Crucifixion reality and cared for the body of the Christ.

We are to be like Joseph.

For many of us here, we are thankfully spared from encountering gruesome and violent death in the way that Joseph did. It seems like such an extreme example as we think of what we are called to do as Christians. We know that what we do to the least of these, we do to Jesus. And thankfully, blessedly, for our lived realities, the least of these do not regularly include the corpses of those who have violent deaths.

Unfortunately, that is not the case for many in our world. As I typed this sermon I got emotional, thinking about those who have had to encounter the messy reality of caring for the bodies of those they love, even carrying them, as Joseph carried Jesus. I thought of those people, those bodies and those who cared for them in life and death - especially those who died at the hands of violence. I thought of Mamie Till, who chose to display her broken son’s body, the body of Emmett Till, following his violent death at the hands of white supremacists. I thought of mothers in war zones - of Ukrainian mothers mourning over their children, victims of bombings, carried out in the fear campaign of Putin who continues to attack civilians and children. I thought of those in Gaza, dealing with the bodies of those who are dying of starvation. I thought of all the injustices and violences in our world that lead to death… and my heart broke. It is breaking anew now.

How we treat these bodies - is how we would treat the broken and bloodied body of Christ. And how we treat these people while they yet draw breath - this is how we would treat Christ himself.

Again - these examples, thankfully, seem extreme and far removed from us. And yet it all boils down to what Paul says in Romans - as Christians we are to be people who rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

When we weep with those who weep, we become the God who weeps with us, to one another. When we weep with those who weep, we enter sometimes the darkest, loneliest, and most forsaken parts of someone’s life - and we remind them: you are not alone. I am here. God is here. Love is here.

Even on that darkest and most forsaken day of Good Friday - Joseph of Arimathea was proof that God was still working in the world. That Love was still working in the world. Love that pushes us to the messy realities of caring for one another. Love that makes us weep with those who weep. Love that makes us align ourselves with Jesus - and with the least, least, and forgotten - as Jesus was that day - even at our own risk.

(Deep Breath)

Friends, thank you for taking this open and vulnerable journey with me, reflecting on Good Friday through the eyes and experience of Joseph of Arimathea. As we leave this place today, may we hold on to this vulnerable openness, allowing our hearts and souls to be open to all we meet in this world, rejoicing with those who rejoice - and yes, weeping with those who weep.

May it be so, Amen.

"Overlooked Stories: Jonah" a sermon on Jonah 3:1-10

Jonah 3:1-10
“Overlooked Stories: Jonah”
Preached August 17, 2025

Today, you might be surprised that I am including Jonah in our “Overlooked Stories” sermon series. Jonah? Overlooked? It’s one of the first Bible stories we learn in Sunday School. There is not a single children’s Bible that doesn’t include this story. The book of Jonah is a beloved story. Running away, getting swallowed by a whale - the story delights every child. And while children’s books and movies depict the awe-inspiring, fantastic imagery of a man living inside a fish…There is more to this story. We think we know the story of Jonah and the “whale” and so the rest of this story is often overlooked. I did not know the whole story of Jonah until I read it in seminary!

And so today we are going to go beyond Jonah running away and being thrown overboard and the big fish that swallowed him…because there is more to this story that is often overlooked.

We must remember that God was not asking Jonah to do something easy. God called Jonah to go and preach repentance to the people in the city of Nineveh. Now Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. The Assyrians were known as aggressive, ruthless conquerors. Jonah hated the Ninevites. He may even have been afraid of them - and probably for good reason. As so he ran… I think a lot of people think Jonah ran because he was afraid of public speaking or that he didn’t want to be a preacher or a prophet…a lot of pastors, especially second career pastors, use the story of Jonah to mirror their call stories. They ran from their call until they couldn’t anymore. But Jonah, Jonah actually ran from what God was asking him to do because he HATED the Ninevites. “Preach repentance to THOSE people? I’d rather run away to the opposite ends of the earth.”

It’s not surprising that Jonah did not want to take the message to Nineveh. We often forget that these Biblical figures are also human. And it is very human to hate. To fear. To run. Every human, somewhere inside of them, has hate. Sometimes that hate is unconscious, learned but not realized, beneath the surface. Sometimes that hate bubbles to the front and explodes in our actions and words. Sometimes we know it’s there and do our best to quietly ignore it. Other times we see it, recognize it, ask God for forgiveness and then work towards repentance. But in whatever form hate dwells inside of us, it is there. Every group hates something or someone. Sometimes our hate or dislike for a person can bind us together more than shared interests or things we like.

This hate is a part of our fallen human nature and can easily take a hold within us. As Christians we know we shouldn’t hate people. We don’t even like to use the word hate because it seems too harsh. And, at the same time, there might be people who, if they fell off the face of the earth? Well, we might just think, “good riddance” or even “thank GOD.”

Not only that - sometimes we, as a culture, hate people so much that we celebrate their deaths or misfortunes. In recent history I can remember people shooting off fireworks to celebrate the death of a terrorist. He was so hated, that for many, his death was worth celebrating. I’ve also seen people celebrating diseases and awful diagnoses for politicians they don’t like. I’ve seen people online giving death threats just because they don’t like a pop star. Hate can give people a heck of a high.

And this is an apt comparison to the story of Jonah, because in today’s world, asking Jonah to go to Nineveh might be like asking one of us to go to the headquarters of Hamas or the KKK or the Proud Boys or other terrorist groups. Groups that, generally, we hate and we fear, the two emotions tied up in each other. And so, Jonah ran away. Heck, I would too.

And our hate isn’t just for enemies of state, far away. In this day and age I do not think anyone really needs convincing that hate is a part of humanity. All we have to do is turn on the news or scroll down our facebook feeds, or look into our own hearts.

Not only can hate rot our souls from the inside out but it can overflow in violence. I want to say as Christians this hate inside us won’t lead to violence or destruction, but it will. There is a reason there is a phrase that is often used in atheist of post-Christian spaces, “There is no hate like Christian love.” The story of Jonah is satire that is meant to hold a mirror to our own souls, our own hate, our own half-hearted following of God. The story of Jonah is a precursor of what Jesus preaches, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.”

Let’s turn our attention back to this sharp satirical story of Jonah interacting with his enemies, rather begrudgingly, following God’s word. At this point Jonah received the call from God to go preach to Ninevites, tried to run away to the opposite side of the world, got thrown overboard, swallowed by a giant fish, and spat out. Up until this point, we know the story. So let’s see what happens when he arrives in Ninevah:

“Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’” Now, let’s look at this. It was a three days walk to go through the whole city of Nineveh. Jonah went a third of the way across the city. This isn’t half-heartedly following God - this is one-third heartedly! After living inside a fish for 3 days and 3 nights, you’d think Jonah would have gotten his act together by now. But Jonah, Jonah didn’t even bother to go to the center of the city before he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” In English, 8 words. In Hebrew, 5. Can you imagine if I got up here every Sunday and the whole message consisted of 5 words - and five words that fell short of the full message that I wanted to convey? For some reason, I have a feeling that wouldn’t go over well - despite being able to beat the Baptists to lunch.

Jonah was following God’s call. He went to Nineveh, didn’t he? He kind of told them to repent, didn’t he? Well, yeah. Kind of. He was only half-heartedly prophesying. He was only half-heartedly following God’s call because Jonah didn’t want the Ninevites to repent! His hate and fear of them got in the way of him full-heartedly prophesying and preaching and following God.

Like Jonah, our hate can keep us from full-hearted discipleship. When we don’t address the hate and sin inside of us, when we aren’t calling it by name and actively working against it, it can act as a barrier for fully living out God’s commands to love our neighbor and follow Jesus.

I’m going to take a minute and look at myself. Where am I only serving God half-heartedly? Who do I hate? Who am I afraid of? I want you to know that I am airing out and working out my problems, not accusing anyone in this congregation or beyond. Despite living most of my life not wanting to recognize it, I know there is hate and fear inside of me and the more I examine it, I realize how much I stumble over it.

Sometimes I am afraid to address race and racism and the tricky and complicated feelings it brings up and realizing how I am complicit in it. Often I am afraid of addressing the hate disguised as Christian Nationalism or any -ism, really, fearing I will upset someone. Sometimes, maybe, I don’t really feel comfortable sitting by and having a conversation with those who are homeless. My first instinct is to be the one in the kitchen serving dinner rather than joining in fellowship. And sometimes I feel like there are *those* people that are just so far gone, so full of hate themselves, that they’re not worth my time - you know, the ones who watch the news channel that you hate. Maybe sometimes I’d really only rather serve God monetarily not by my actions or sometimes just by my actions and not by my money...These are some of the issues and things inside of me that I am dealing with that keep me from wholeheartedly following God. Since I have reflected openly about this question myself, I invite you to consider, inwardly: What is keeping you from fully serving God?

As we ponder that question, I am going to switch gears for a minute and share some good news this morning: Despite Jonah falling short, despite his hate and his half-hearted attempts at following God, God still used this flawed human being to bring about repentance. God worked in spite of, with, and through Jonah. Likewise, our hate and fear and sin, though they often act as stumbling blocks, don’t disqualify us from doing God’s work. And at the same time, a challenge: God wants us to serve full-heartedly.

Take, for example, the full-hearted repentance of the King of Nineveh. Not only does he repent but he calls for the whole city - even the animals - to repent, to fast, to cover themselves in sackcloth and ashes. The Ninevites REPENT. They repent SO MUCH that they even cover their animals in sackcloth and ashes. This is in direct contrast to Jonah’s half-hearted attempts. The “bad guys,” the enemies, the Ninevites - they throw themselves into full-hearted, over the top, repentance. This is another sign that this story is satire by the way, livestock do not need to repent. But they totally cover their bases - even the animals repent.

But Jonah, that hate inside him is still going strong, he barely followed what God was asking of him and now he is hoping that they didn’t listen to his five words that he said only one-third of the way into the city and that God will smite them. Jonah, in fact, throws a tantrum to God. The Scripture says:

“But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning, for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ And the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.”

But God, in God’s kindness, doesn’t leave Jonah to stew in his hate. God makes a little plant to give Jonah shelter and Jonah was happy about the bush. But the next day, God sent a worm to eat the plant. I am going to read again from the book of Jonah:

“But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’

But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?’ And he said, ‘Yes, angry enough to die.’” Hold, on, I gotta interrupt here to just, emphasize this ridiculousness. ANGRY ENOUGH ABOUT A BUSH TO DIE! Okay, back to Scripture, “Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also many animals?’”

Again - satire. Jonah cared more about a BUSH than the fate of all the people, including children and innocents, in Nineveh. He cared more about a plant than a hundred and twenty thousand people. Just because he hated those people - they were the enemy.

It is here that we, once again, are called to hold the mirror up to ourselves. Who are we hating? And perhaps, our hate is as ridiculous as wanting to die because a plant got eaten by a worm and yet not caring about the fate of thousands of people.

So we’ve already said there is Good News here, God can work good through us even as we still struggle with the sin of hate. And here is some more Good News, in the words of Jonah himself: “for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment.”

In other words, hear this Good News: While we are often afraid, while we often have hate inside of us, there is hope -- God does not hate ANY. ONE. Thank God for that!

God loves all of God’s creation. God loves you and God loves me, even with all of our faults. God loves you regardless of your immigration status. God loves you regardless of your gender or sexual identity. God loves you regardless of your race and ethnicity. God loves you regardless of your employment status and socioeconomic status. God loves you whether you're single or married, kids or no kids. Simply put, God loves you. Because isn’t that the whole point? That God loves us so much that God would send us Jesus? To live and breathe and die with and for us? No one - not even our enemies and not even ourselves with all our faults - no one is outside the love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ. Trust me, it’s hard to say this, as it would have been very hard for Jonah to say that God loved the people of Nineveh - even those we love to hate or even hate to hate...God loves them too.

And because God loves us and them, yes, even our enemies, so unconditionally - we too are called to love like God loves. Regardless. Just love.

This theme of God’s love makes itself known over and over in Scripture. Love even for the enemy.

And so, grounded in the knowledge of God’s love and hope, how can we address the hate and sin in this world, in our community, inside of us? How can we work against it? How can we move beyond the things that separate us from each other and from God? The things that keep us from wholeheartedly following God? I don’t have the answers for you today - but Jonah holding up a mirror to reflect on the ways, the ridiculous ways, we get stuck on hate is a start. And so I want to challenge each of us to consider these things: to examine ourselves, to begin to pray for our enemies and the eradication of hate in our hearts and the world. I pray that each of us can reject hate so that we can move towards love - love that allows us to fully follow God, and fully love like God loves.

Amen.

"Overlooked Stories: Queen Vashti" a sermon on Esther 1:1-12

Esther 1:1-12
“Overlooked Stories: Queen Vashti”
Preached Sunday, August 10, 2025 

CONTENT WARNING: This sermon discusses the Biblical story of the rape of Tamar.

We are continuing our “Overlooked Stories” sermon series this morning with Queen Vashti. This week I told someone I was preaching on Queen Vashti and she said, “Who?” And I said, “exactly.” No, I actually said, “The woman who was deposed as queen so Esther became queen.” And she went, “ohhhhh.”

Now, we heard part of her story today in the Scripture but it is not all of it, so allow me to share more. I, once again this week, gave myself a Scripture with many hard names to pronounce. Even more so than last week…so now I’m going to try and tell you the version without all the hard names.

Once there was a king. A very, very rich and powerful king. This very rich and very powerful king threw an extremely large banquet to show off his wealth and power. The banquet was not just for those in his inner circle but whole armies, the elite ruling class, the governors who ruled under his name - this banquet hall was overflowing with men - rich and powerful men - of which he was the most rich and powerful. And this king wasn’t just in it for a good time - he was in it for a long time - what a better way to show off his wealth and power. He could host a banquet, overflowing with food and alcohol, lots of alcohol, for 180 days.

And THEN, once those 180 days were over, he threw another party! Not just for powerful men but all men - and this party was also extremely lavish, over the top, ornate, a display of power, once again lots of alcohol - I am just going to quote the Scripture here: “Drinks were served in golden goblets, goblets of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. Drinking was by ordinance without restraint, for the king had given orders to all the officials of his palace to do as each one desired.” In other words…everyone was drunk and was given full permission by the king to do whatever they wanted without consequences. What could possibly go wrong? …but really, use your imagination, I am sure it wasn’t a very wholesome time.

And then there is this line that Queen Vashti, the wife of this very rich and powerful king, also threw a banquet for the women.

On the 7th day of this opulent party, when the king was, well, drunk - he commanded his wife be brought before this raucous seven day party full of drunk men who were given permission to do whatever they wanted. He wanted to show his queen off. Now, there are some interpretations that the King wanted her to not only come wearing her crown - but only her crown. Whether this is the case or not, it would seem that the King viewed his beautiful queen as yet another thing to be put on display to show his wealth and power. He showed off his ability to make the wine overflow, marble pillars, mosaics made with colorful stones and gems… why would he not also show off his beautiful wife to brag what a rich, powerful and “blessed” man he was.

Queen Vashti, however, said “No.” And the king was irate and burned with rage.

We can imagine that this rich and powerful king was not used to anyone telling him no. And certainly no one told him no for the last 187 days as he feasted and got drunk. But Vashti…Vashti said no. We don’t know the reason she said no. The text doesn’t tell us. Perhaps she knew she would not be safe in such a crowd of men. Perhaps she did not want to be humiliated and degraded in such a way. Perhaps she was just tired of her husband treating her as another fine possession, made a thing, treated as less than a full person.

We should not downplay the courage it took Vashti to say “no” in this scenario. The “Me Too” movement has highlighted how even in our modern day, power imbalances make it hard, if not impossible, for women to say “no” to men who have power over them - causing them to endure harassment and abuse.

And while Vashti was a queen - she was also a woman - and did not have the power to say no without consequences. The angry king consulted his advisors and they told him that Queen Vashti had committed an unforgivable and dangerous act. By her saying no to him, she would inspire other women to say no to their husbands, and perhaps even whole regions to say no to the king - her simple act could cause rebellions and was a threat to the king’s power. (To which I say…really?) She was to be banished - although some rabbinic traditions guess that she was actually executed - and another queen was to take her place.

It is at this point that the story may get more familiar to our ears. The king holds a beauty pageant of sorts, causing Esther to become queen and through her acts, she stops the genocide of the Jewish people, she is told by her cousin and father figure Mordecai: “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”

But first, let’s look back to poor Queen Vashti. By all measures that I use, Queen Vashti did the right thing in saying no to the king, her husband. She protected her dignity and safety. She refused to be paraded around as an object - especially in front of many drunk men. And while she may have done the “right” thing - she paid dearly for it.

And that, in essence, is the takeaway from this sermon today. The thesis, if you will: this world is unfair and filled with darkness, and as such, doing the right thing isn’t always easy and can come with consequences - but take heart, for God will always be with you.

This thesis, if you will, is in direct opposition to the popular heresy known as the prosperity Gospel that espouses that if people just simply do the right things, follow God, be faithful, pray right, etc, etc - then God will reward those people with health, wealth, and general well-being and happiness.

To preachers who preach this message I simply want to say: the disciples would like a word. The martyrs would like a word. Queen Vashti would like a word.

Because it’s actually the opposite. Faithfully following God and doing the right thing - which includes standing up to injustice and saying no to rich and powerful people who perpetuate injustice, like the king in our Scripture today - can have consequences. It can hurt our reputations, put us at odds with people in power, and have adverse effects - like Vashti being banished.

The fact of the matter is, we live in a world where there is darkness. There are forces - and people - in our world who value profits over people, often profits at the literal expense of people - including their lives; who value being right over relationships; who value power over mutual care and interdependence. Following God means always choosing love - love over profit, love over being right, love over independence. These are not popular choices in our world. But take heart - for God is always with us. And as our Gospel reading from John said this morning, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.”

And yet, in the midst of the darkness of this world, we may ask ourselves, “Where is God in all this?” That’s actually a very appropriate question to ask when discussing Queen Vashti and the book of Esther as a whole. The book of Esther is kind of famous for being the only book in the Bible where God is not specifically mentioned.

Queen Vashti is not the main character in this story. She is used as a plot device to show what kind of man this king was - one who valued wealth over people, who listened to his advisors, who treated his wife as a thing rather than a person - and so she is cast out and enter Esther, a woman of Jewish descent, although she is to keep that a secret, and it is through her coming before the King, and pleading her case, something that well could have gotten her cast out like Vashti - that she stops a genocide of Jewish people that the king’s advisors were telling him to carry out.

But God - God is never mentioned specifically. To the astute reader, however, God is all over this story. God is with Esther and she assumed her position. God is with Esther as she pleads her case before the King. God is with Esther when the Jewish people are saved. God raised Esther up “for such a time as this” to do the right thing and save God’s people. And...God was also with Vashti. God was not just using Vashti as a plot device to bring Esther onto the scene. God was with Vashti when she claimed her courage, God was with Vashti when she said no. God was with Vashti, even as she was banished. For God is with all of us at all times.

The Bible is full of what we call “texts of terror.” The Bible depicts child sacrifice, rape, murder, genocide, and a plethora of violent acts. It is a good reminder that although something is Biblical, it does not make it Christlike. Our Bible is full of absolutely horrid things. I have preached on many of these horrid things before - but at a domestic violence awareness themed sermon that comes with many trigger warnings. I am not prepared to dive into all these texts today. But I will, briefly share, one story that has always stuck with me when asking the question, “Where is God in all this darkness, evil, and violence?”

In 2 Samuel, Tamar, the daughter of David, is raped by her half-brother, Amnon. Unfortunately, many people conspired to make this act of violence happen. And Tamar pleaded with her brother, begging to be spared from this violence. But she was ignored and this horrendous act of violence and evil was done against her.

Where in the world was God in the midst of all this?

God was in her no.

God was in her voice and agency when she said no. When she said no to protect herself. When she protected herself with her voice.

God was ignored by the perpetrators of violence in this text, we all have free will and can all ignore what God desires and choose evil - but that does not change the fact that God was with Tamar in her powerful no.

God was with Tamar in her weeping and screaming and rending of clothes that happened after.

God is with and in every voice that says no to violence. God is with and in every person who is harmed and weeps at injustice. God is saying no to violence with them. God is weeping at injustice with them.

While the story of Queen Vashti is not as explicitly violent as the story of Tamar - God was still with her in her courageous no. And in her banishment. God always sides with the outcast, the oppressed, the trodden on, the forgotten.

For some people, this may not sound like the Good News of the Gospel. What do you mean that horrible, violent acts still happen to people? Or could happen to me? What do you mean that my faith isn’t a magical amulet that assures me protection against bad things? And yet. I have found, for many, especially for survivors of acts of violence or those who are oppressed, there is nothing more Good than this Good News: God is on your side. God is in your “no” as you say no to the violence and hate in this world. God weeps with you when you weep. God does not want this for you or for anyone. God wants the day when all are treated as the beloved children of God that we were all created to be. The day when it is, on earth as it is in heaven…and until that day. God is with you. God is with them. God is with us. Take heart. No matter what darkness you have walked through, are walking through, or will walk through - you are never alone. God is with you.

The story of Queen Vashti - and of Esther - who was raised up to “such a time as this,” reminds me of a favorite quote from The Lord of the Rings. In the book this conversation happens between Frodo and Gandalf, in the movie it’s Pippin. But in the book there is a conversation that goes like this:

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

For those who have lived to see dark times, in their lives and in the world, we wish these dark times had never come to us. And yet…we have to choose what to do with the time given to us.

My prayer and hope for us as we encounter dark times is this:
May we have courage.
Courage to stand up like Queen Vashti and Tamar and all in Scripture and our world who say, “No” to injustice and violence.
May we have assurance of God’s presence with us in all and every circumstance.
May all who are downtrodden, oppressed, cast out - may they, through us sharing God’s love and care with them, know that God is with them.
May we be faithful disciples of Christ who were chosen for such a time as this - to shine light in the darkness.

May it be so. Amen.

“Overlooked Stories: The Daughters of Zelophehad” a sermon on Numbers 27:1-11

Numbers 27:1-11
“Overlooked Stories: The Daughters of Zelophehad”
Preached Sunday, August 3, 2025

The daughters of Zelophehad - Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah - you may not be familiar with their story, I know that I wasn’t before I chose this sermon series called, “Overlooked Stories.” During the month of August I will be focusing on five stories, and characters, from Scripture that may fade into the background. Maybe we’ve heard of them - maybe we haven’t. But likely we haven’t spent a lot of time with them and reflected what these overlooked stories have to say to us about God and our faith.

We are beginning this series with the daughters of Zelophehad - Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. While their names are hard for me to say, it is important for me to say their names. Because, very surprisingly, the Bible does. Multiple times. In the Hebrew Bible, the text we know as the Old Testament, there are 1,426 personal names. 1,315 of those names are male or presumed to be male. That means there are only 111 female names used in the whole Old Testament - a mere 9 percent. And so, for these 5 daughters to all be named is, in itself extraordinary. It also goes beyond that. These women - Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah - are not only mentioned in Numbers 27. They are mentioned 5 times in the Scriptures - Numbers 26, 27, and 36, Joshua 17, and 1 Chronicles 7. In four of those five times, their names - Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah - are used. They are mentioned in three books of the Hebrew Bible - there are only two people mentioned in more books of the Hebrew Bible than them - they are Miriam and Moses.

Just by the numbers games - readers of the Hebrew Bible should be alerted at the extreme importance of these women, the daughters of Zelophehad - Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And yet, for many readers of these sacred texts, they are overlooked and unknown. Let’s change that for us gathered here today.

First, their story:

They first appear in the Hebrew canon in Numbers 26 where we establish their genealogy. They are descended from the ancestors of two half tribes of Israel - Ephraim and Manasseh. Zelophehad is a tenth generation son who fathered no sons - but five daughters. The name of their mother is not known. By the time we get to our story from today, in Numbers 27, Zelophehad has died, leaving his five daughters without an inheritance that they can legally claim - if there had been born sons instead of daughters, there would have been no issue.

The book of Numbers gets its names from the censuses that take place within it. The census is important because it is dividing up the land. According to the law of Israel, women could not inherit. Wil Gafney, author of Womanist Midrash, who I want to acknowledge her scholarship helped me understand this text and what was at play here, she points out that at this time Israel was actually unique in its law to not allow women to inherit land. She says, “Just as Israel was relatively isolated in largely restricting women from public and professional religious roles, they were also virtually alone in legislating women’s exclusion from property law. Women through the ancient Near East, from Egypt to Mesopotamia broadly, and specifically in places like Sumer, Ugarit, and Elam, owned and inherited property for more than a thousand years before the codification of Israel law.. The codes of Hammurabi and Israel’s Hittite neighbors also legally enfranchised the property rights of women.”

In other word’s, Israel’s laws prohibiting women from inheriting property, were not simply a sign of the times. They were unjust and restrictive. Enter the daughters of Zelophehad - Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. Their father was dead. They were unmarried. They had no brothers. There was no male in close enough relationship to them that they would be counted in the census. Soon, they would have nothing to their names - no place of their own. So they stood up. They stood in the tent of meeting - they stood between the leading men of their community in front of them - all the other men in their community behind. Before them was considered the meeting place of God. They were in between, a mediator. A place where Moses often stood. And they said, perhaps with one voice, “Give us the land.” They did not ask. They did not beg. They did not add “please” at the end. They stood up and they said, they demanded, “Give us the land.” They then made their argument as to what they were due. They said, a quote from our Scripture, “Our father died in the wilderness; he was not among the congregation of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the congregation of Korah but died for his own sin, and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.” In other words, “Our father was a good man in good standing. He didn’t do anything against the tribe or earn any disinheritance. If we were men, we would have rightfully inherited. Thus, give us what should be ours if we were but men.”

Moses hears their demands, and he deliberates. He takes it to God. He does not dismiss the out of hand - this is to his credit. And God takes the side of the daughters of Zelophehad - Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. God says - yes. God says, “they are right” - a word meaning not just correct but righteous. It is a powerful affirmation from God. And it should not surprise us. The theme of caring for the least and the least, which specifically includes widows and orphans, women and children, is a strong theme in all of our holy Scriptures. As we heard from Isaiah this morning:

“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove your evil deeds
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil;
learn to do good;
seek justice;
rescue the oppressed;
defend the orphan;
plead for the widow.”

God hears them. And God doesn’t just hear the specific case of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. God uses them, if you will, as case law, commanding Moses and the people of Israel to re-write all their inheritance laws as it pertains to fatherless daughters without husbands or brothers. Women were now eligible to inherit land. This a change of torah, a change of the law. One commentator phrased it to say that while the law may have been written in stone, this story shows us that God’s people should be flexible and willing to right injustices - even if it means re-writing the law.

This is not the end of the story of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. After all, they are mentioned three more times in Scripture. We are, however, going to pause here for a moment, talk about the United Methodist heritage of justice work and bring in some more recent examples of Christians listening to God to right wrongs and re-write unjust laws.

I have talked about and preached many times over the Wesleyan theological concept known as “Means of Grace” - that is, the ways that we are called to live out our faith and the ways we encounter God. There are two axes - a vertical and horizontal - making four quadrants. I’ve talked about this before so I am going to rush through it a little - if it’s new to you, I’d love to talk to you more about it. So we have a vertical axis and horizontal axis that over lap - making four quadrants. Picture it with me. First we are concerned about our relationship with God - so we are called to individual acts of piety - prayer, reading the Bible, and such. And we are called to communal acts of worship - gathering together, singing hymns, celebrating the sacraments, and such. We are also called to be act on our relationship with our neighbors. So we are called to individual acts of compassion or charity - basically everything mentioned in Matthew 25: feed the hungry, give the thirsty something to drink, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, visit the sick and imprisoned. And then in this last quadrant, we are called to communal acts of justice. This is the concept, and the exhortation, that we aren’t just called to address needs as they arise with acts of compassion and charity - but we are to work against systems of injustice and work for a world where there is no hunger, no thirst, no need, no outcasts, no forgotten person. We are to work toward the Kingdom of God. Now, we need all four of these quadrants to experience the fullness of our faith. I have talked before about how if you only have one of the axes - you don’t have the fullness of our discipleship. We need love of God and love of neighbor - together they form the cross.

This last one we just talked about, communal acts of Justice. It’s often been politicized. Been scoffed at. Told to keep out of the pulpit. And yet, Justice is as much of a Christian concept as loving God is. This is not justice as it is often thought about and played out in our world today - courts and arrests and fines and sentences with a “justice” system that is less about rehabilitation as it is punishment. God’s justice is about setting all things right, about “Your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.” About creating that holy Kingdom here on Earth where all persons are treated as the beloved children of God that God created us as.

When I talk about those four quadrants, I often say that each of us is going to have a quadrant in which we feel most comfortable. To which we naturally gravitate based on the gifts and personality that God gave us. I, for example, gravitate towards the Communal Worship quadrant. The beautiful thing about the body of Christ, is there are people who feel most at home in each quadrant present in this congregation. Together, we make up the fullness of the body of Christ.

And…I also say, that doesn’t excuse us from participating in the other quadrants. We are all called to the fullness of our faith. We are called to push ourselves, to grow, to step into areas of discipleship that don’t come naturally to us. Or, on the flipside, to extend a hand to others to “your” quadrant to help teach them the ropes of that area of Christian discipleship. The first time I participated in a march for a cause I believed in, a cause that I believed would help make this world look more like God’s Kingdom, it was alongside a seasoned friend in this area. I would not have had the courage to go alone. The first time I went to a prison, it was on an organized tour meant to educate seminary students. I needed my siblings in Christ to help me step out and grow in my faith and discipleship.

Each of us is called to justice work just as each of us is called to prayer.

And so, some examples for us to follow.

Martin Luther King Jr is certainly an example of a man who lived out his faith and pursued justice. In his “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” he gave multiple examples of just and unjust laws. Here is one such definition from that letter: “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregated a false sense of inferiority.” King gave his life to make our world a more just place, more like the Kingdom of God.

Further back in our tradition, John Wesley worked tirelessly for causes of Justice & the Gospel. He preached to miners and encouraged workers’ rights. He spoke out against the horrors of slavery and the slave trade - even when it was immensely unpopular to do so and he put his own well-being at risk on multiple occasions, escaping mobs and the threats of being tarred and feathered. One way he fought against this injustice was appealing to the humanity of those trafficking humans:

“Are you a man? Then you should have a human heart. .. . Do you never feel another's pain? Have you no sympathy .. . no sense of human woe, no pity for the miserable? When you saw the flowing eyes, the heaving breasts, or the bleeding sides and tortured limbs of your fellow-creatures, was [were] you a stone, or a brute? . . . Whatever you lose, lose not your soul: Nothing can countervail that loss. Immediately quit the horrid trade: At all events, be an honest man.”

As Christians we are called to love and care for all God’s children - to free the oppressed from oppression which seeks to eradicate the imago dei in all people. And to free the oppressor from the grip of hate which destroys the soul. This is the work of Christian Justice.

There are so many examples I could give. So many stories of Christians - giving water to refugees in the desert, feeding lunch to the homeless in the park, housing families in sanctuaries - examples of things that are illegal, according to the law - but actions that are just and right in the eyes of God.

The Christian work of Justice is not easy work. It requires courage to stand up for what is right - like Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah did. It requires a voice - clear and strong or wavering - but still speaking out for what is right. “Give us the land” as the sisters - Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah - said. It requires those in power to listen and then to act for what is right. And above all, it requires persistence. The march towards justice is slow and arduous and does not come all at once.

Which brings us back to our story of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. This story in Numbers 27 should have been a happy ending. The women stand up for their rights, for what is right, and God calls them righteous and commands things not just be made right for them but for all women who are left in the lurch with no fathers, brothers, or husbands. Justice has been done. God calls it good and right.

But Moses…Moses ignores what God commands. He never gives them the inheritance that God told Moses that he should. Here we get into the complicated person of Moses - and his complicated relationship with women. Or, well, we could get into it but that’s for another sermon. This one is getting long enough…But here’s what you need to know. The next time Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah appear in Scripture, in Numbers 36, it is the men of the assembly complaining against these women and what God commanded regarding them. “But what if they marry men from other tribes and become richer because of it?” Moses does not consult God and says “Fine - they must marry men of their own tribe or forfeit their inheritance.” This takes away their agency…but still, they have not yet been granted their inheritance. Not while Moses is alive. In Numbers 20, God tells Moses that because of his disobedience, he will never see the promised land. God says, “Because you did not trust in me, to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” God’s rebuke in Numbers never gives specific reasoning - the context is he doesn’t strike a rock to give water - as he does in the Exodus account, Gafney says her preferred womanist interpretation of this text is that Moses is banned from the Promise Land, dying having never seen it, because he failed Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. He failed to listen to God’s command to do right by them and by women in their circumstances. Moses never gave them the inheritance.

So when Moses dies, and Joshua brings the people into the promised land, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah now stand before Joshua in Joshua 17 and they, once again, say, “Give us the land that is ours.” They do not ask. They do not beg. They don’t even say please. They know what is right and what is just - God has already confirmed their request as righteous. Joshua immediately complies and gives them their inheritance that Moses denied them.

The story of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah tells us that the path towards justice is a slow and arduous one and persistence is needed. The story of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah tells us that institutions and people in power, even good people likes Moses, or as King wrote about, “the white moderates who say to wait,” will stand in the way of God’s will that justice be done, that Earth looks more like Heaven, that all are cared for as the beloved children of God that we all were created to be.

The story of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah - the daughters of Zelophehad - is an overlooked one but an extremely important one. It tells us of God’s heart for justice, of caring for the last, the lost and the least - the widow and the orphan - all who society marginalizes. It tells us to stand up for what is right. It tells us to be persistent that God’s will be done, persistent in making sure we care for one another, that unjust systems are dismantled, that unjust laws are re-written, that we act out what we pray in the Lord’s prayer, “on earth as it is in heaven.”

So today, whenever and wherever you see injustice in this world, listen to and learn from the story of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. Speak up. Be bold. Trust in God. Live out your discipleship in fullness and wholeness, making our world more like God’s Kingdom.

May it be so. Amen.