Never too late
Revelation 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20-21
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
June 2, 2019 – Celebration Sunday
Imagine you’ve been exiled by the occupying force in your country to a penal colony to be a slave for the oppressors who sent you there. As you wait to die, you write to those suffering persecution words of hope, words of justice and restoration, in which evil loses and love wins.
It’s never too late for God to break through.
John in his exile on the island of Patmos wrote about the end of empire and the triumph of God. Even as he did so, he compared empire to a promiscuous, bloodthirsty woman and God’s triumph to the violent destruction of that woman. Not only the Bible but also all of human history is rife with the brutal imagery of empire, patriarchy, and misogyny, and yet God still invites all of humankind to the waters of life as a gift.
It’s never too late for God to break through.
Even though the early church expected Jesus to return in their lifetime, even though Jerusalem had been destroyed, the faithful scattered throughout Asia Minor, persecuted by the Roman Empire, still there was this urgency of hope. “I am coming soon!”
It’s never too late for God to break through.
In West Texas and in Arizona, Good Samaritans have been arrested for helping migrants with water or food or a ride. Those they help are sent to detention centers, many of them youth and young adults. Between 1998 and 2017 about 7,000 migrants have died trying to cross the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Despite the danger, the death they left behind, the death ahead that could claim them, they come.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, to break through.
In El Paso, Texas, in the first week of May, there were 900 people in a place intended to hold 125 migrants. They had been wearing the same filthy clothes for weeks. They were standing on the toilets in their cells just so they could have breathing space. 109,000 people crossed the border in April alone. 2,000 children are still being held in immigration detention centers. As a human race we have been here before and we know it is wrong. We know we can do better.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, to break through.
In Virginia Beach 12 people died in a mass shooting on Friday. It was the 150th mass shooting this year. In five months. There aren’t enough words or tears. Or thoughts or prayers. A generation of children has been shaped by our idolatry of the gun. And yet two days ago the Nevada legislature passed bills for a Red Flag law and a bump stock ban. We must persist with our righteous anger and activism and courage in the fight against gun violence.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, to break through.
Nine states are seeking to ban or have banned the constitutional right to a safe, legal abortion. Those same nine states also have some of the highest infant mortality rates in the nation. Those same nine states also have not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment or they have a problematic history with it. Some folks are preparing to re-establish the network of clergy, both Christian and Jewish, that helped folks who needed counseling and access to abortion providers before it became legal. Because lives are at stake.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, to break through.
Scholar and author Ibram Kendi tells us that it is not hate and ignorance that give rise to racism and racist polices but economic and political self-interest. Education and love alone will not save us; rather when the majority of people see that it is everyone’s self-interest to lift up the most vulnerable and marginalized, we all will be lifted up.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, for love to break through.
Same-sex marriage is legal in 28 countries; with Taiwan becoming the first Asian country legalize it last month. Malta, Brazil and Ecuador have banned conversion therapy. In South Africa, Nepal, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Malta, Portugal, Sweden, and Fiji it is constitutionally illegal to discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, for love to break through.
Where in our lives have we given up? Do we look at the climate crisis and see our doom as inevitable? How ready are we to let go of our safety and comfort for the sake of others? And yet God still invites all of humankind to the waters of life as a gift.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, for love to break through.
How often do we feel discouraged despite our best efforts? Much of what church is about is not about reward but commitment to love and to justice. But how do we hang on when we can’t perceive the way forward? How do we keep faith with community when we don’t feel like we belong? How do we do the hard work of faith when our hope has lost its urgency?
It’s never too late for God, for justice, for love to break through when we open ourselves to the power within us and around us and among us. That’s what this Table is all about. Remember me, Jesus said. This isn’t the end but only the beginning of something new. Remember what I taught you, remember that just as you are, you are enough, remember I am with you, you are not alone, you have each other.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, for love to break through. Amen.
Benediction – enfleshed.com
May we go from here in spirit of fervent love,
praying through all we do:
come quickly, love.
come quickly, justice.
come quickly, courage.
For today may be the day that God breaks through.
Let us go and make it so. Amen.
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
June 2, 2019 – Celebration Sunday
Imagine you’ve been exiled by the occupying force in your country to a penal colony to be a slave for the oppressors who sent you there. As you wait to die, you write to those suffering persecution words of hope, words of justice and restoration, in which evil loses and love wins.
It’s never too late for God to break through.
John in his exile on the island of Patmos wrote about the end of empire and the triumph of God. Even as he did so, he compared empire to a promiscuous, bloodthirsty woman and God’s triumph to the violent destruction of that woman. Not only the Bible but also all of human history is rife with the brutal imagery of empire, patriarchy, and misogyny, and yet God still invites all of humankind to the waters of life as a gift.
It’s never too late for God to break through.
Even though the early church expected Jesus to return in their lifetime, even though Jerusalem had been destroyed, the faithful scattered throughout Asia Minor, persecuted by the Roman Empire, still there was this urgency of hope. “I am coming soon!”
It’s never too late for God to break through.
In West Texas and in Arizona, Good Samaritans have been arrested for helping migrants with water or food or a ride. Those they help are sent to detention centers, many of them youth and young adults. Between 1998 and 2017 about 7,000 migrants have died trying to cross the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Despite the danger, the death they left behind, the death ahead that could claim them, they come.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, to break through.
In El Paso, Texas, in the first week of May, there were 900 people in a place intended to hold 125 migrants. They had been wearing the same filthy clothes for weeks. They were standing on the toilets in their cells just so they could have breathing space. 109,000 people crossed the border in April alone. 2,000 children are still being held in immigration detention centers. As a human race we have been here before and we know it is wrong. We know we can do better.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, to break through.
In Virginia Beach 12 people died in a mass shooting on Friday. It was the 150th mass shooting this year. In five months. There aren’t enough words or tears. Or thoughts or prayers. A generation of children has been shaped by our idolatry of the gun. And yet two days ago the Nevada legislature passed bills for a Red Flag law and a bump stock ban. We must persist with our righteous anger and activism and courage in the fight against gun violence.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, to break through.
Nine states are seeking to ban or have banned the constitutional right to a safe, legal abortion. Those same nine states also have some of the highest infant mortality rates in the nation. Those same nine states also have not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment or they have a problematic history with it. Some folks are preparing to re-establish the network of clergy, both Christian and Jewish, that helped folks who needed counseling and access to abortion providers before it became legal. Because lives are at stake.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, to break through.
Scholar and author Ibram Kendi tells us that it is not hate and ignorance that give rise to racism and racist polices but economic and political self-interest. Education and love alone will not save us; rather when the majority of people see that it is everyone’s self-interest to lift up the most vulnerable and marginalized, we all will be lifted up.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, for love to break through.
Same-sex marriage is legal in 28 countries; with Taiwan becoming the first Asian country legalize it last month. Malta, Brazil and Ecuador have banned conversion therapy. In South Africa, Nepal, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Malta, Portugal, Sweden, and Fiji it is constitutionally illegal to discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, for love to break through.
Where in our lives have we given up? Do we look at the climate crisis and see our doom as inevitable? How ready are we to let go of our safety and comfort for the sake of others? And yet God still invites all of humankind to the waters of life as a gift.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, for love to break through.
How often do we feel discouraged despite our best efforts? Much of what church is about is not about reward but commitment to love and to justice. But how do we hang on when we can’t perceive the way forward? How do we keep faith with community when we don’t feel like we belong? How do we do the hard work of faith when our hope has lost its urgency?
It’s never too late for God, for justice, for love to break through when we open ourselves to the power within us and around us and among us. That’s what this Table is all about. Remember me, Jesus said. This isn’t the end but only the beginning of something new. Remember what I taught you, remember that just as you are, you are enough, remember I am with you, you are not alone, you have each other.
It’s never too late for God, for justice, for love to break through. Amen.
Benediction – enfleshed.com
May we go from here in spirit of fervent love,
praying through all we do:
come quickly, love.
come quickly, justice.
come quickly, courage.
For today may be the day that God breaks through.
Let us go and make it so. Amen.
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