Sanctuary

Text: Luke 21:5-19

Focus: Persecution

Function: To prepare Hope to be a sanctuary for the world around us.

Form: GOK

Intro: I learned 1 Timothy 1:7 from the King James Version. It reads like this: ⁷For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

One of the ways that we can tell we are being led by the Holy Spirit could be a consistency with that verse. When God is leading us, we are not overcome with fear. We do not react out of fear.

No, the Scripture tells us this promise, that God does indeed give God’s Spirit to those who trust in Jesus to save them and that this Spirit of God leads us in faith, not fear, leads us in power, not the weakness that a lack of courage causes and it gives us the wisdom to do it well.

The Spirit God was present when God formed the heavens and the earth, and the Spirit of God is still here today, with us and is still here promising us to be with us so that we can continue the work of Jesus Christ with simplicity, with peaceableness and in our community, together.

Because of the outcome of the election, I am tempted to say that we need the Spirit of God now more than ever. But that would not be true.

In order for us to be and to remain faithful when times are good and also when times are bad, we have always had to depend upon the work, leading and power of God’s Holy Spirit.

God’s Spirit is still leading.

And that introduces us to the theme from today’s gospel Lectionary Text.

We read it in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Matthew has the most complete accounting of it with more detail about the destruction of Jerusalem that happened in 70 AD.

Now the translation that I read this morning is a little bit more accurate than the one I heard it from the first years of my life.

Many of us have heard the line: “when you hear of wars and rumors of wars” as an omen that the Apocalypse is coming.

But right there in the King James verse 9 it says, “But the end is not by and by.” Or the end is not yet near.

I love the way Eugene Peterson tells it in The Message. It is what we read, but these are just routine things, no sign of the end.

“The end will be much more than that,” is what Jesus is saying.

Or in other words, there are always going to be people who point to how bad things are, creating a panic in order for you to follow them and you Christians are to remember that the one you are to be chasing after is Me, Jesus.

Do not be afraid.

But the reason that we are not to fear is not because the contract we have when Jesus saved us was also a contract for us to have no problems for the rest of our lives and when we do, we have some sort of Genie in a bottle to magically make them go away.

Jesus then goes on to make it clear that the path forward may also include suffering, but do not be afraid, Jesus is always with us.

So go to verse 12. Jesus reminds Christians that persecution is not a sign of the end times because starting right here He explains that BEFORE the end times, they will arrest you.

The point is this, make up your minds to be faithful. We say it this way: Count well the cost of following Jesus.

So, let us focus all that fear verses faith rhetoric on the events of last week. The fragile balance of power in a two party system that seemed to be gridlocked was indeed fractured last week and that leaves many of us feeling insecure because the status quo, as much as we have complained about it, was at least somewhat predictable and now it no longer is.

Our election system produced two candidates that apparently did not appeal to the population to such a degree that no one could predict the outcome.

And that can be scary. But remember, God is still God and Christians have endured tremendous difficulties in the past. It is actually in those times that we have grown the most and have been the most faithful because at the end of difficult times, we see how God is in control.

I am not saying that we are going to face difficult times, but what did happen is that our sense of security has been shaken.

And it has been shaken much more for people of color, people who were born on the wrong side of some arbitrary line, people of differing sexual identities, and for over half of us in the room, the women. There is also the concern that their voice will be heard even less in cases of violence and abuse.

Those times may be difficult, even for us.

But God has called us as Christians to rise above the vitriol and hatred of this world.

God has called the church to be a sanctuary. Who knows, these walls may literally be sanctuary for a refugee family in the near future?

So, how can we be a sanctuary now?

I think one of the first things to remember is that we are called by Christ Jesus to take up our own crosses to follow Jesus.

We have enjoyed relative safety our entire lives, but that is not what is promised in this scripture.

Who knows what will happen?

We do not.

The Bible tells us that God exists outside of time itself. God does know the future. We can trust and rest in God regardless.

There is no cause for alarm, ever, because Jesus is still Lord of the universe for all eternity.

So how do we become a safe place?

Again, we have to remember that we too, are crucified with Christ and the lives we live no longer belong to us.

Every change is a chance for us to remember to keep faith with our forefathers and mothers who loved Jesus and His cause more than their own lives.

Early Brethren provided Sanctuary for runaway slaves, maybe we will do the same for those who face a deportation that will either cause their death or destroy their families. We want to live and be together with our families, then we must love the other as much as we love ourselves and sacrifice our own property and lives to follow Jesus if necessary.

Many of you have served Christ your entire lives and know that service for Jesus is not easy. We tend to follow Jesus’ teachings more than the teachings of a modern Christian religion that has suborned itself to the doctrine of Empire and Nationalism over the global community of the body of Christ Jesus.

That different view has earned us the accusation that we are somehow unpatriotic. That is not true, we just love Jesus more than country because the Bible tells us to.

Those teachings that focus more on the words of Jesus in the gospels than the doctrine the Empire from the 4^th not the 1^st century that valued community over everything else have earned us the unfair moniker of being socialists, communists or anti-capitalists.

Those teachings of Jesus where He spent His time with those who were cast out of the society by their race, their physical health, their gender, their past, their present and the sins that they did which were somehow worse than the sins of the religious leaders have earned us the unfair accusation that we do not care about sin. We do, it is just that the teachings of Jesus and the OT prophets call sin for what it is, injustice, exclusion and evil, not condemnation for things like the person we love.

We are following Christ and it has earned us some persecution. Thank you for your faithful testimony.

Kathy and I have learned that following Jesus means accepting the circumstance at the moment that God has presented us.

Jeanie knows, we are selling a beautiful home to move here and live with you. And we are doing it happily because following Jesus requires sacrifice.

Would we not rather be right in the middle of doing the work of Jesus, Simply, Peaceably, Together instead of hunkered down in a corner afraid of the future?

No fear! God is in control.

So how do we provide sanctuary? We need to make up our minds that our lives, our possessions and even this building really do not belong us, they belong to Jesus Christ who bought us with the very precious and dear price of His own blood sacrifice.

Today, we are witnessing to Jesus by focusing on His blood sacrifice as we share bread and cup communion.

However, we have one other witness opportunity for you this morning.

(show safety pin)

You may have heard of a common symbol of hope that people are placing on their bodies. It is given to both sides of the aisle. There are many who voted for the President who are not racist, who disagreed entirely with the way he got elected but were frustrated enough with the system to vote in the one person that they thought could shake up the status quo. Bully for them. It might work. Remember, God is indeed in control and that is where our rest is.

Those people as well have a need to let everyone else know that they adamantly disagree with the racist/fascist comments that have happened both before and after the election.

Whenever change happens, fear rises. And because of the speech and violence that has occurred since the election, America does not feel like a safe place to them.

But Christians on both sides of the aisle are indeed willing to take a stand for a different way of living.

And so, the symbol of the Safety Pin, Safety for “safe” person, or as we are focusing this morning, Sanctuary. It means the same thing. For us, the Church, as the Institution Hope Church of the Brethren and as individuals, we want everyone else to know that we are safe people who will never participate in any violence.

But, this safety pin also symbolizes more. It also symbolizes that if we see an act of injustice, we will intervene.

I lost a very good friend on an airplane ride. We were traveling together about 10 years ago when 9/11 was still fresh in the American Psyche. There was a Buddhist family traveling who were obviously Middle Eastern.

Anyway, Kathy and I witnessed the man and the Stewardess have an altercation. Kathy noticed the man acting misogynistic toward his very pregnant wife. I told her that Middle Eastern cultures are still emerging on Woman’s rights and have a long way to go.

It was a very short, early flight that probably should not have had beverage service. But it was early and passengers were demanding coffee and going to the bathroom a lot.

That man took their toddler son to the bathroom as soon as the bell rang permitting it. The beverage service started. The back of the plane was completely full. The cart was advancing down the aisle and the man with the son in his arms was returning and could not get back to his seat. The Stewardess was right beside Kathy and me.

We saw her permit a passenger to pass her by backing up to the one empty aisle seat, letting the woman in, and then proceeding. It took 10 seconds.

She did this right before the man and his son tried to return to their seats.

But she refused the man who was now holding a crying child that was now screaming for the mother 5 aisles ahead.

The man literally had no where to go and the stewardess rammed her shoulder into the man who was trying to let her pass.

Then, the stewardess accused him of assault.

I spoke up and decried her attitude by saying “but ma'am, the child just wants his mother” and as I was getting ready to point out that she just accommodated another passenger, she pointed her finger at her and threatened to charge me with a felony.

I shut up.

God forgive me.

And we had to wait 15 minutes when the plane landed for US Marshalls to escort the family off the plane.

I started this story with “I lost a friend.” My traveling companion said something about Muslims ought to know their place and obey federal law by complying with the instructions of the flight crew.

But God gave me another chance and it cost me dearly. Because of an earlier delay and the wait for the family’s humiliating escort off the plane were were slated to miss our connection. We had to traverse two concourses to get to our next plane which was already boarding.

As we finally deplaned we saw the family being interrogated by the US Marshalls. And to stop and defend the family was going to cost making our connection, we were in a tight spot.

But here was the actual choice: A vacation in Mexico? Or the incarceration of this innocent family? My pleasure? Or permitting a whole lot of pain?

I chose the family, stopped, explained to the officer that this man was completely innocent, I was right there, the stewardess assaulted him and it appeared to me to be an obvious case of racial profiling. As I was beginning to remind the officer that they were Buddhist and not Muslim the wife bust into joy and tears at my speech and said: “Finally someone had the courage to speak up for us and tell the truth.”

They let the family go and because they were also on our connecting flight, they held up our flight for them.

So what did this cost me?

It cost me my friend. But, I would rather have Jesus.

I am not proud of this moment.

Not in the least and I will tell you why.

The family of color was completely vulnerable and humiliated by the fears of a white person.

And, they were not believed and released until me, a white man, spoke up for them.

White privilege is not something of which I am proud. But if I can use it to be a sanctuary, if we can use it to be a safe place, no matter what it cost, then that is what Christ Jesus has called us to do.

So, come and share the bread and cup of Jesus and if you are willing to be the safe place for others and testify to it with this pin, the so be it.

Luke 21:5-19 (MSG 5-8, NRSV 9-19)

^5-6One day people were standing around talking about the Temple, remarking how beautiful it was, the splendor of its stonework and memorial gifts. Jesus said, “All this you’re admiring so much—the time is coming when every stone in that building will end up in a heap of rubble.”

⁷They asked him, “Teacher, when is this going to happen? What clue will we get that it’s about to take place?”

^8-9He said, “Watch out for the doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, ‘I’m the One,’ or, ‘The end is near.’ Don’t fall for any of that. When you hear of wars and uprisings, keep your head and don’t panic. This is routine history and no sign of the end.”

⁹“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” ¹⁰Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; ¹¹there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

¹²“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. ¹³This will give you an opportunity to testify. ¹⁴So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; ¹⁵for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. ¹⁶You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷You will be hated by all because of my name. ¹⁸But not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹By your endurance you will gain your souls.