Unbreakable Links Between Each of Us
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a, Luke 4:14-21 and Excerpts from Upstream by
Mary Oliver
January 26, 2025
By Rev. Nicole M. Lamarche
Welcome again on what is for us Annual Meeting Sunday! Thank you for
getting out of bed! I understand that it would be a good day to stay there. I
am grateful to all of the volunteers who helped make today happen. I am
grateful for a warm sanctuary!
Welcome with whatever you are carrying today, may you receive whatever it
is that you need, welcome to you who are joining online, welcome whoever
you are. I invite you to join me in this prayer from Psalm 19. God may the
words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in
your sight, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
It's an all-out war on what and who we love. We knew it was coming, but
wow it came fast. I told you that we would need to pay close attention for
the first 100 days and it turns out that it was just one. We were told that we
should wait, but that obvious is not true. It’s already an all-out war on what
and who we love. I am worried. I am afraid. For you. For us. For me. And
even those in positions of privilege feel it too. As Bill McKibben wrote this
week, “It is hard, watching the richest men on earth grovel before the new
king, not to feel a little fear. I have some early morning bouts
myself—perhaps I’ve caused enough trouble over the years for the fossil
fuel industry that they will come for me. Those fears are tiny next to those
of the millions of immigrant families who must be trembling tonight, knowing
that some of their families will soon be cruelly singled out for separation.”
But still I hear some saying, let’s just see, even though we are seeing
quite clearly. And I still hear some saying, let’s just hunker down and take
care of us, even though the us is defined so narrowly. And I hear some
saying, let’s just put our energy to understanding those who think
differently, even though their different way of thinking is harming us and
killing us. And I hear some saying to those of us who are religious leaders,
just stay in your lane, don’t be political, you are being divisive and
exclusive. And maybe you heard that especially this last week. Let the ones
who know speak on this. Let them handle it. No!
I saw the following headlines over this last week: Should priests and rabbis
have something to say about policy? Is it the role of ministers and imams to
speak on matters of politics and partisanship? And What to Know About
Mariann Budde, the Bishop Who Upset Trump With Her Inaugural Sermon
and Woke DC Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde defends lecturing Trump, tells
‘The View’ hosts she was ‘trying to speak a truth’
I understand that American Christianity has been so whitewashed and
man-washed and overcome by consumerism that it has been reduced to
McFaith, offering quick comfort, but that’s not what it is about. Over my
nearly 20 years of ministry, I have seen what happens when Christianity is
wrongly overcome by the idea that it is about individual comfort. One of the
main reasons I see people leave church is the expression of feeling
uncomfortable. It’s too hard to have something asked of you, it’s too much
to be asked to grow. It's too difficult to be asked to hang on through the
hard. It doesn’t match modern life to be told that sometimes we put our
egos aside for the whole. Are you with me?
I have watched people leave church because one decision that was good
for the group didn’t match their personal preference. I have watched
conflicts arise because some weren’t willing to deal with anything that
challenged what they wanted for themselves. But this is a sanitized version
of faith, a cleaned up new spirituality that it isn’t rooted in the Christian
tradition. Maybe it has been so corroded that we don’t recognize the truth
when it comes before us begging for mercy.
For far too long, the Jesus put up front as the one to follow, has been an
imposter. This Jesus has been turned into something other than a brown
skinned Palestinian trying to call the powers that be to account. This
imposter Jesus has led people to worship false answers and profits, to
seek convenience over the common good, it has led those in power to
release criminals instead of the oppressed. This imposter Jesus is not
Jesus of Nazareth.
Being faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ isn’t about prioritizing what is
good for any of us on our own, our own personal preferences over what the
group needs. It’s not about keeping us comfortable. I guess being a disciple
of Jesus of Nazareth is political, being a person of conscience is political,
being devoted to Jesus’ core mission is political. It might not be partisan,
but it is political.
Standing with Jesus as he reads from the ancient scroll saying, “The Spirit
of the Lord. The Spirit of Love is upon me to bring Good News to the poor,
freedom to those in bondage, sight of all kinds for those who cannot see”
saying that believing that is political.
Because the word politics comes from Ancient Greek πολιτικά (politiká)
meaning "affairs of the cities." Politics are the set of activities that are
associated with making decisions in groups, so for those of us who believe
in the idea of caring about what is good for the group, we are and should
be the ones asking why we are doing it like this, if we see our people on the
sidelines. If we see a manufactured hierarchy of human worth being turned
into laws.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ asks something of us, from us, individually and
collectively. It’s political. I know that is simply too hard for some to hear. But
yes, this is what we are here for. This is what he came for. It was never was
about avoiding pain or personal discomfort, it was never about doing it
perfectly so some win and others lose, rather it’s tending to one another
and the sacred space between us, helping to free each other while we are
here. It’s believing in and living from the unbreakable links between us!
I believe that and I know you do too. And that my friends is political. And I
want you to know that in times like these, our bravery in believing this is
needed. Our commitment to our ancient wisdom of knowing we are in need
of one another, this is our call, our task, our work. When a permission
structure has been given for hate and all kinds of things, it feels important
to give permission to something else, for believing this, that we are bound
together, linked in time.
Being the ones who whisper mercy into madness will always upset the
Emperor. Being among those who call out legalizing nativism will always
anger those benefiting from hate. Being among those who never stop
seeking justice will always be seen as political.
When Paul wrote this letter to the community in Corinth, he was writing
against the backdrop of the Roman Empire. His use of the body image was
so political that we might miss it today. As Troy Miller writes, the image of
the body was “often employed in other ancient writings as a reminder to
show those of low social and/or political status of their place in society,
namely, in a position of subservience to those of higher standing. In light of
this, Paul’s usage stands out as unique. He employs the image to
emphasize the importance of the seemingly less important, less prominent,
or less significant parts, lifting up the “least” of the members and calling the
“greater” parts to pay attention to and even honor. “ In a world that valued
military might, Paul says to value those who the world calls the weak. In a
structure that rewards just one part, he says to love the whole, that each
part is in need of the other, connected, linked, together. And I guess this is
political.
And I guess believing that is political.
In the excerpt from Upstream by Mary Oliver she writes of how we are all
connected, that there exist a thousand unbreakable links between each of
us and everything else, and that our dignity and our chances are one…We
are each other’s destiny.”
So no part should say to the other, “I have no need of you.” Living this,
believing this, regardless of what is going on around us is political. Because
“The Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Love is upon us, all of and each of us to
bring Good News to the poor, to help freedom those in bondage, to make
more of us up. I know there exist a thousand unbreakable links between
each of us. We are in need of one another! We are each other’s destiny!
Let us never forget that.
Communal Reflection
Question(s): How do you relate to the idea that there exist a thousand
unbreakable links between each of us? How can our church more fully live
out the Christian concept of being one body, where every member of the
body knows that it is needed and where it can be of most use to the whole?
Beloved of God, one part cannot say to another, I have no need of you! The
Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Love is upon us, all of us and each of us, to
bring Good News! There exists unbreakable links between each of us.
Thanks be to God. May it be so. Amen.
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