Epiphany6C + Content in Love + 2.17.19

-

The Rev’s Alene and Melissa Campbell-Langdell
Faith Lutheran / All Santos Oxnard
(Jeremiah 17:5-10; Ps. 1; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20; Luke 6:17-26)  

In the musical Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda highlights a theme throughout his description of the life of Alexander Hamilton. The theme was that Hamilton would never be satisfied or happy in his life. His sister-in-law even sings about this topic on his wedding day. Although they are perfect one to the other, they cannot marry, but he instead marries her sister Eliza. Angelica sings "He will never be satisfied, I will never be satisfied."[1]  His wife Eliza also sings with yearning that she will be satisfied if he could be happy with his life and if he could return home.
Which brings me to the gospel for today, and the concept of being satisfied. The words of Jesus here are a little surprising. "Blessed are you who weep now" (Luke 6:21). How can I be satisfied if we are sad? Is being satisfied not to be happy? But the Greek word here, makarios, can be translated as satisfied, happy or at peace. [2]  It means that the circumstances of your life are good. But Jesus uses this word for those who are poor, who are hungry and those who weep, for those who are defamed and reviled, excluded and hated. What is Jesus saying here?
I think he speaks of a different way of being satisfied. It is not the sense that we have when we have eaten a good meal. It has more to do with the sense that we had the first time we failed a test at school, or our friends called us bad names, and our mother or father was there to tell us that we were loved, no matter what grades we got or how our friends treated us . That sense that although it seems that we have lost everything, God is there. That we are loved. I think that Jesus says here that the way to be satisfied and have peace is not in things even in people who surround us. People and things pass away. Indeed, Jesus says that those things can be traps that blind us to the love of God. Beware when they are rich and have full stomachs and people praise you all over the world. We've all seen people who think they don't need God because they feel that they can do everything without God’s help or that of others. In fact it is in our times of darkness when we are introduced to the deep love underlying everything, the reality of God. Have you ever been in a moment in which you thought that you had lost everything? Sometimes it is in these moments when we feel that God's hands are under us, that God will not allow us to fall completely.
Our loving God knows us better that any other person has known us: "even the hairs of your head are all counted (Luke 12:7).” That loves sees us as human and loves us - whatever form and each size we take, whatever color, orientation, indeed whatever person we are. We may feel that God loves us despite our human frailty, but I believe that God loves us for our humanity.
Saint Paul emphasizes that in his letter to the Corinthians. Our faith in the resurrection is not a belief that our spirits continue after death without connection to our body and our humanity. We do not become angels after our death. God loves us as humans, with our bodies. And this is what we believe. We believe in the resurrection of the body. Jesus became a man and thus glorified our flesh. Our bodies will be resurrected at the last day.
In the last part of the musical, Hamilton finds a little peace. There is a scene in which he is walking down the street with his wife. Now, he has lost the fame and wealth that he has sought all his life. In the brokenness of losing his son and his own infidelity to his spouse, has found forgiveness. Although they are still feeling the pain, they sing: "There are moments that the words don't reach, There is grace too powerful to name ... They are standing in the garden Alexander by Eliza’s side - She takes his hand" [3]  And there he feels the forgiveness of his beloved spouse. And I imagine that in this forgiveness he feels a little of the grace of God and God’s love. His identity is not based on what he has done or what others think of him. He is beloved, and is happy in his own right. But he gets to this point only by a long road. And that love allows him to do something amazing at the end of the play. He can forgive the person who wants to kill him. He allows his enemy to kill him rather than shoot him. He sacrifices himself. And Jesus showed us that this the greatest love that we can show for our friends.
So, if you are sad today, don't be discouraged. God’s got you! God will hold you. If you are happy, we are very happy for you! But never forget that we depend on God for every single breath we take. And that we are beloved in our whole being by God. And if we can truly grasp that, perhaps we can find our way to be content, in the love of God. Amen.


[1] Lin Manuel Miranda, "Satisfied," Hamilton (2015).
[2] Working Preacher Podcast, "Sermon Brainwave #648 - Sixth Sunday after Epiphany" (St. Paul, MN: Luther Seminary), Feb. 8, 2019. Available online at workingpreacher.org
[3] Lin Manuel Miranda, "It's Quiet Uptown," Hamilton (2015).


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Faith or Fear? Advent 1C

-
Melissa Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard Year C + Advent 1 (Jeremiah 33:14–16; Ps. 25:1–9; 1 Thess. 3:9–13; Luke 21:25–36) So… what are you going to do when you stand before the man with the holes in his hands? Now that may seem like a strange question to ask this first Sunday in December.  Surely, Pastor Melissa, we’re gearing up for jollity, not getting ready to meet our maker? But in a sense we are, always, all the time, waiting for Jesus, and I think that’s what Advent is really all about.  Reminding us that we are always waiting not just for the Christ Child to come and be born in our midst, but that we are also waiting for that awesome, if slightly scary Second Coming of Christ. And it is true that this passage talks about distress and the roaring of the waves.  And many looked at the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, that iconic image of the ocean-side theme park, including a Ferris Wheel, in the waves, and many said, this is something w...
Read more

Proper 20 (B) + A community of power + 9.23.18

-
Image
M. Campbell-Langdell All Saints, Oxnard (Proverbs 31:10–31; Ps. 1; James 3:13–4:3, 7–8ª; St. Mark 9:30–37) Take a moment and think of the most powerful positive woman figure you know – in your life or in your favorite movie, show or book. Who is the woman who has most inspired you? Keep that image of that woman in mind as we look at this passage from Proverbs Chapter 31. Now here we see the verse “A capable wife who can find?” And all the feminists amongst us will be relieved to hear that a better translation from the Hebrew would be: “a woman of power” instead of a “capable wife.” [1] That changes things, doesn’t it? Then when we hear about this ideal ancient Hebrew woman’s exploits – her buying of lands, her trading prowess, her physical strength, even her domestic abilities such as weaving, and perhaps especially her kindness to the poor, we see strength and power in all of these. Of course, looking at this passage, this is not one woman but a concept of the most...
Read more

Proper21BAcceptingourownwounds29sept24

-
  Accepting our own and other’s wounds Mark 9: 38-50   St Michael’s, Isla Vista / All Saints Oxnard The Rev. Alene Campbell-Langdell; MCL additions   May I just start this morning by acknowledging that our Gospel reading is complex.   The images are startling (horrifying?) and the metaphors come almost too quickly to catch.   What is clear is that something serious is going on between Jesus and his disciples, and Jesus is using every means possible, including some pretty harsh language, to try to course correct.   To even begin to understand this passage, we need to back up to last week’s reading from Mark.   In that reading, the disciples are arguing with each other about who is the greatest and best disciple.   In response, Jesus gets a little kid, some commentators say “toddler,” and holds this child in his arms during the rest of the conversation.    The other part of the scene to keep in mind is that Jesus has just told...
Read more