Symbols

This is the sermon I preached at Bemidji United Methodist on 7/15/18. It was the first time I'd ever preached at a Methodist congregation, but they gave me a warm welcome all the same. 

Epistle: Ephesians 1:3-14

Gospel: Mark 6:14-29

Grace and Peace to you from God our Loving Creator, and from Jesus the Christ, Amen

Paul was traveling along the countryside, and taking breaks along the way to work his trade. In the villages and towns, his name usually preceded him. Many didn’t know where he was from, but his work ahead of him was clear. He had many companions, but when Paul found his most trusted companion one day, his companion stayed with him from then on. Many stories were told about him, but one thing is clear: Paul Bunyan has left his mark in this town.

Yes, it’s true. Many businesses bear his name in this town, and the giant statue on the waterfront helps. But Brainerd and Akeley have their own Paul Bunyans… and Mahnomen has St. Urho… Alexandria has Ole the Viking… And Blackduck has, well… a black duck. Symbols of pride for their community populate this great state of ours but beyond the giant ball of twine… Perhaps one of the more powerful symbols of this great northern state, is Paul and Babe.

When I was still in high school, and no, it wasn’t just last year -  I had lived in Huntington Beach, California for a year. It’s a long story as to why I was there and why I came back, but suffice it to say - Life’s an adventure and I love Minnesota. I had a gym teacher there who was also a cultured geography teacher. He would wear a combo of western boots, western suit jackets and t-shirts when he was teaching class. Anyway, one of the first things he asked me when I started school there, and told him I was from Minnesota - was what I knew about the great Paul Bunyan.

I think I told him about Paul Bunyan chopping down all the trees of western Minnesota and Babe getting in a tantrum and therefore creating all kinds of holes in Minnesota and how the lakes in Minnesota come from Babe’s tears… But it doesn’t really matter what I told him, I don’t think it mattered to him. I was knowledgeable and proud of my place of origin. He called me, “Minnesota” from then on.

When Paul the Apostle was on his journeys, he wrote letters to churches across the Roman and Greek territories, and some folks in his name, wrote letters as well. Paul’s name preceded him, and he usually had friends waiting for him. He was tossed from his horse, tossed in jail, and tossed into the sea. But he wasn’t just representing himself. He knew where he came from, but he also knew the purpose of his work. He brought with him a message of his own source of pride, Jesus the Christ, and proclaimed the Gospel to all he passed.

This Gospel that would change lives from then on, and frankly change the course of history. Paul the Apostle spoke about Jesus the Christ so You the Minnesotan, or You the American, or You the Citizen of the World - would know the Promise and the Fullness of God in the form of God Incarnate. This radical Gospel of Jesus the Christ that boldly proclaimed that God Loves You - because you are God’s beloved children, and that love is shown through the Grace that is freely given. That we are forgiven for our failures, because it’s God’s plan to bring us all together, no matter what we can or cannot do - who we are or who we are not.

This is the message that Paul so freely offered to all, and is present in our lesson today and written by the followers of Paul. A message that still conquers and divides to this day, with people using it to both fight and defend injustices, calm or enrage people with and without faith. Being a representative of Jesus the Christ, being an apostle, a follower, a Christian - Whether Methodist or Lutheran, Catholic or Protestant, East or West - We can all hold on to the Truth that Christ lived and died for you and me and the piles of trees Paul Bunyan cut and Johnny Appleseed re-planted.

Being a representative of Jesus the Christ can be risky. In today’s service, we only read the one text from Ephesians, but in the Revised Common Lectionary that most Mainline congregations use - the Gospel text for today has little to do with Jesus, but with his cousin John the Baptizer. I’ll read that text since you don’t have it in front of you - Mark 6:14-29

14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.”
15 But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. 18 For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. 22 When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” 23 And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” 24 She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb. (Mark 6:14-29 NRSV)

Faith is a fickle thing. How far do we take our faith? John the Baptizer was Jesus’ cousin, and had immense faith in him. So much - that he was willing to die for his faith in the Law, and his faith in Jesus. But what happens when that immense faith truly does become a matter of life and death? How far are we willing to take this faith of ours? Our faith in Jesus the Christ informs us that Jesus conquered death so that death has no sting. That Jesus was resurrected and therefore we also have a resurrection like his. This is the promise that we as Christians carry with us, that Paul and other Apostles brought to the known world, and that we must carry on through our words and our actions.

For if we truly believe in life after death, if we as an institutional church, and I’m not just saying Lutherans or Methodists or Catholics, but the entirety of American Christianity - if we truly believe in life after death then we must not fear the unknown. We as Christians rounding the end of the 2nd decade into the 21st century cannot look into the face of Herod and simply continue to shrug in the name of civility.

Jesus the Christ - who lived and served with a bunch of outcasts - was anything but civil. Jesus the Christ who bent or broke many laws of his day to reach the marginalized, those who were cast out of society for one reason or another. Jesus the Christ who calmed the storms and burst the fishing nets. Jesus the Christ - who after a time of being uncivil - was punished for his lack of civility by the civil authorities and suffered and died because of a broken humanity. That broken humanity holds us back from seeing Christ in one another, and from being Christlike for one another.

So we work on ways to engage our community and embrace our neighbors. I’ve heard that Bemidji United Methodist is already becoming that neighborhood church. We hold onto the truth that Christ saves us from our sins through God’s ever-flowing Grace, Love and Mercy. We learn from our neighbors, especially those who have ancestors predating our own and those who are just beginning their American journey.

Because our American journey may seem to be populated with figures like Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed, but in truth the American journey is one of hardship and hope, bondage and free, and truths that should be self-evident.

Paul Bunyan the Lumberjack may be what Bemidji is known for, but it is my hope as I begin my own journey in Bemidji, that Bemidji is also known for radically welcoming and embracing the stranger and the neighbor. So that as Christians, Christ continues to be our Love and our Light to shine for one another.

Paul Bunyan had Babe and his axe. Paul of Tarsus had Christ and his pen. (and what large letters he could write with it) You and Me and the rest of humanity have Christ and his love and justice to spread to one another. With or without civility.

Amen.