Sunday, January 19, 2020

January 20 Sermon (2 Epiphany)

Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, Have mercy on us.
You have shown us that self–giving love leads from death to life
May the death–dealing violence of our world
Yield to the power of your vulnerability,
And the whole creation join in songs of everlasting praise.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, hear our prayer & give us peace. Amen.
(Trevor Williams)

Everyday of our lives, Jesus invites us on a journey, a journey into the heart of love.

And everyday, we get to make a choice to follow him or not, like all who turn to Jesus.

When Jesus saw two of John’s disciples following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.”

That interaction makes me think of this poem:

Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of living, it doesn't matter
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come even if you have broken your vow a thousand times,
Come, yet again, come, come.
(As quoted in Rumi and His Sufi Path of Love (2007))

This beautiful poem written in the 13th century by Rumi a Persian philosopher, Sufi theologian, poet, & teacher, is a poetic invitation, like what Jesus says to the disciples, what Jesus says to us… whoever you are. Come sinner and saint. Come wanderer and worshiper. Come again. Come and see…

“Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

John the Baptist twice proclaims Jesus as the Lamb of God, testifies that Jesus is the Son of God. The second time, two of John’s disciples go & follow Jesus. They want to know where Jesus is staying, they want to hear his words, they want to see the Son of God, they have that hope in the messiah, the one they had been waiting for… And Jesus tells them to come and see.

Come and see. It is an invitation to come follow him, to come see what he will say and do. It is a significant beginning for the disciples, a simple invitation and they follow him. And our patron saint here, Peter is named by Jesus in this moment. Come and see and those who follow are changed and their lives are changed.

She was born Araminta Ross on a farm in Buckstown, Maryland, in 1849. As a young woman of 27, she is promised her freedom in the will of the owner of her estate. The heirs, however, renege on that promise and plan to sell Araminta — “Minty” as she is called — “down river” to a plantation in the Deep South where she would be forever separated from her husband and family.

Despite the odds against her, Minty pulls off a daring escape, even leaping from a bridge when she is cornered by the dogs and men on horseback who are quite literally hunting her down. At great risk, Minty makes it to Philadelphia, building a new life for herself with the help a supportive community of black abolitionists. As many emancipated slaves would do, Minty takes a new name to mark her new life as a free woman: Harriet (the name of a film from last year!).

But Harriet can’t rest easy, knowing that her people continue to endure doomed lives as slaves. So she returns again and again to Maryland’s Eastern Shore, often in disguise, to guide other slaves — including her parents and sister — to freedom. The dangers increase with each trip — but so does Harriet’s guile and resourcefulness.

Harriet Tubman would make 13 missions and guide 70 slaves to freedom, becoming one of the most successful conductors on the “Underground Railroad.”

Harriet’s success in bringing slaves to freedom makes her a marked woman in slave states. As slaveholders increase the bounty on her, Harriet’s friends in Philadelphia urge her not to return to Maryland. But Harriet will not hear of it.

“God’s time is always near,” Harriet Tubman responds. “He set the North Star in the heavens; He gave me the strength in my limbs; He meant I should be free . . .Now I’ve been free, I know what a dreadful condition slavery is. I have seen hundreds of escaped slaves, but I never saw one who was willing to go back and be a slave.”

In her crossing to freedom, Harriet Tubman realizes God’s call to her: to bring other slaves to freedom and to work to end the institution of slavery. In Baptism, we receive God’s blessing and are re-born in God’s grace and called to take on the work of Jesus: to testify to God’s presence in our midst, to proclaim the justice and peace of Jesus’ Gospel, to stand with the poor, the rejected and the forgotten — with the certain hope and assurance that the Spirit of God — our own “North Star” — leads us on.

Harriet Tubman mirrors the prophetic witness of John the Baptist, who gives his life to proclaim the presence of the “Lamb of God” in our midst. Like John and Harriet and Dr. King, we have been called in Baptism to testify to the presence of the Lamb of God in our midst. Our witness can be declared in less vocal but no less effective vehicles: in our unfailing compassion for others, in our uncompromising moral and ethical convictions, in our attempts (however small and simple) to bring forgiveness and reconciliation to those around us, with the vision and commitment of “prophets” like Harriet Tubman.

“What are you looking for?” Asks Jesus.
“Come and see.” He says.

Everyday Jesus invites us on a journey and we get to make a choice to follow Jesus into the heart of love. Amen.

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