Release

Psalm 27     Philippians 3:17-4:1     Luke 13:31-35

Last week we talked about the invitation of Lent, and how it can help us. We talked about the way in which – whether we give things up or take things on as spiritual practices – we are called to embody a faithful response to Christ. We talked about the way in which Jesus resisted temptation not just as an example, but as a means of resting power from the forces of sin and evil in the world.

Finally, we recognized the opportunity of our own vulnerability and the way it empowers us to respond to the needs of others. All of that led to this question: How and what do you need to cultivate in your life in order to respond more faithfully to the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Today we’re going to talk about letting go. In fact, each of you has a piece of origami paper in your bulletin, and I’d like you to write something on it before you leave today. If you have been thinking about what you need to cultivate, or develop, to follow Christ more faithfully, then I’d like you to write that on there. Whether you’ve been thinking of that or not, what I’d really like you to write on there is something that you want to let go of; more specifically – something that you fear. I’ll explain more in a minute.

Right now, I invite you to hold onto that thought and take a deep, cleansing breath with me. I invite you to close your eyes and think of someone who loves you unconditionally. You can leave your eyes closed if you want, but try to envision this person speaking to you now as I read A Letter To Someone I Love by Sarah Are.

Dear loved one—

I hope you let go.
I hope you let go of holding yourself to impossible standards.

Lower the bar. Give yourself grace.
God delights in who you are.

And while you’re at it, I hope you let go of ignoring your beauty.
The mirror is tired of your harsh words, for you are made of star stuff and music. You are the only you there is, and you. are. simply. stunning.

And I hope you’ll consider letting go of certainty.
For the sun will always rise and set, and you will always be loved.

What more do we really need to know than that?

So let go of your fear.
Let go of perfection.
Let go of busyness as a sign of your self-worth,

And the notion that creativity is a luxury.

Be wild and free.
Plant roots like a redwood,
And a spine like a sunflower;
For the days are short, and you are beautiful.

I love nothing more than to see you happy.
So don’t be afraid to let go.
The only thing you cannot lose is God’s evergreen love.

I invite those with closed eyes to open them, and I welcome you – perhaps even more deeply than before – into the sacred space of proclamation.

Of course, the proclamation isn’t just what I do, or what you do, here in this place. It is who we are as people of God. We are a people who proclaim grace and mercy with all that we do and all that we are, amen?

Even when we fail, we fall upwards and into the outstretched arms of Christ! We need those arms today. We need to hear the Psalmist say, “Of whom shall I be afraid?” We need it because of violence that seems ever present and the vigilance our fear compels us to take in the wake of yet another mass shooting.

Now, before I go any further, I realize that this is a gut level issue. Some may be already thinking, “Here he goes again,” but I have to ask you to stay with me. I have to ask you to stay with me on this because our gut is not our God. Our brains are not our God. Our hearts are not our God, yet all of these must agree on some level that fear cannot be the guiding force in our lives.

If we are to inherit the promise of the Psalmist that we will see the goodness of God in our lifetime, then we cannot be governed by fear. You see, our brains can easily rationalize that the white supremacist who killed 50 Muslims in a town called Christchurch was clearly unstable.  Our hearts can break over their pain and over the fear that created this monstrous act.

Our guts do something different, though. For the belly is concerned only with self-preservation and fulfillment of appetite. It is the God of the Belly that makes us indifferent to the suffering of others.

What, then, shall we do? How do we live in this world where fear is the currency, and the best defense is a strong offense? The Apostle Paul says we should imitate him, and those who have taught us about the gospel of Christ. Of course, his example, and ours is Jesus – not only in his life and teachings – but even in his death and resurrection.

This is the one who openly mocked the one who wanted to kill him because he knew that he wouldn’t be killed outside of Jerusalem. If he were killed in the midst of his fan base, he would be a martyr. Inside of Jerusalem, he would become the problem of the Temple authorities. So Jesus had no fear because he knew what he was about and where he was going. He knew that he was going to Jerusalem, and he knew that he would die for it.

Even so, he laments… for Jerusalem! He’s not concerned about himself. He’s concerned about what others will miss out on if he puts his own needs first.

So it is with you and I if we live in fear. So it is with you and I if we forget what power looks like and where it comes from and how it works. Fear moves us to do something more than defend what we love. Fear moves us to see everything else as a threat to what we love. Whether it is paralysis by analysis or action without care of consequence, fear is a natural barrier to the opportunity to experience the active presence of God in our midst.

Now, this is where it gets personal. This is the part where I want you to think (but don’t over think) about a fear that holds you back from seeing God in others. It can be specific if you want, this is between you and God. As for me, I’m going to connect it with the star I picked up on Epiphany that said, “Devotion.” So, the thing I want to cultivate is more quiet time with God. The fear I want to let go of is intimacy.

You don’t have to write it down right now, but at some point, before you leave, I hope you will. There is a basket in the back to put them in, and just as Paul reminds us that we will be transformed so will these slips of paper.

The real question is whether or not our hearts and minds (and even our guts) will be transformed. The question is whether or not we’ll recognize the opportunity of Christ in our midst.

Some of you are reading Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition by Christine D. Pohl. So far, we’ve talked about the history of hospitality as a Christian witness and the way it was both personal and systemic, but the focus was on those in need. Sometimes we scratch our head about how to do that, and it turns out that we aren’t alone. The church kinda lost that lovin’ feeling centuries ago.

Anyway, then you meet someone who blows your mind with how simple it can be. I met a guy the other night at an event who had a bike shop in town a while back. At some point, he moved to another city. While there he realized that if he could give kids bikes and teach them how to take care of them, it would help them. Eventually, the cops came by to see what he was up to because apparently bike theft had almost ceased to exist. They said, “What’d you do?” He said, “I gave them bikes.”

The same guy is back here in Lafayette. He just organized a massive bike pick up through a “Debris Drop Off” event, and now he’s set to give away around 117 bikes. Why? Because he recognized the need and the basic humanity of others. He did not let his fear over those in poverty stop him from doing something to benefit others, and he is doing it in a very intimate and relational way.

That’s Kingdom of God work. That’s the type of thing the church needs to be known for because in the midst of fear and violence there is no better time for the church to be the church. In the midst of powers and the ideology of powerlessness, we have to find a way to demonstrate that real power has only one source.

Real power is only located in the release of control. Real power is only understood through our trust in the one who gathers us in and frets over us like a mother hen. Real power is what allows us to know that no matter what we have done or what’s been done to us, it is only the fact that we are loved by God that defines who we are.

So, in the midst of a broken and fearful world, I invite you now to be released from those fears. We have light and life and love to share – once we’ve let go of all that holds us back – and all to the glory of God. Amen!