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Unbreakable Links Between Each of Us

Community UCC

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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