11/10/2024 ~ Proper 27 ~ Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17; Psalm 127; 1 Kings 17:8-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1029803460

Fear

Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.” — Mark 12:43b.

I need to start today in an unusual way. Along with the ushers, I am going to pass some containers around. The containers have small stones in them. I ask that everyone take a stone and hold on to it. In fact, take as many of these small stones as you want to take but hold on to them. (The pastor leaves the pulpit and, with the help of the ushers, passes out containers which have stones in them to the congregation.)

On the 28th of August 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke some memorable words. While the prophetic tenor of the words addressed a very specific time in American history, the words are vividly remembered not just for that time in history, but also because their universal message is not at all trapped by time. These are among the words Dr. King spoke.

“I… have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” [1] (Slight pause.)

For those who remember that day I suspect when we hear these words— a recording is available if you don’t remember it— when we hear these words we need to remember the menace, the peril of the era in which they were uttered. Indeed, earlier in the speech, Dr. King addressed that larger context, the jeopardy in which people often lived.

He said (quote): “I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.”

Dr. King was not safe in this struggle. He had intimate knowledge that working for justice meant spending time in jail, enduring personal death threats, threats to his family. His name appeared on secret lists of subversives kept by our government. In short, for many people of all races, and for Dr. King personally, it was a fearful time.

That November things got even worse with the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Anyone who remembers 1963 can attest to the reality that it was a fearful time. Just five years later Kennedy’s brother Robert and King, himself, were assassinated.

Yet, as the words of hope from Dr. King indicate, fear was not central at that event on that day. Nor was fear central in the movement which did so much to forward the dreams of so many. Nor, I am quite sure, did Dr. King allow fear to be central in his life.

A pragmatist, he recognized the reality and the close proximity of fear. But, unquestionably, if he had allowed fear to be central, all he was doing would have ceased. He and the movement would have become immobilized.

There is no question about this: we all have fears. They are real and they can even be tangible. But that does not mean they should be allowed to dominate.

You see, as Dr. King must have realized, there is only one thing that can stand between us and our dreams: fear. When we surrender to fear, we become helpless.

When we allow fear to play a superior role in life, it simply removes the prospect that any kind of vision, foresight, insight is possible. Allowing fear to dominate means any kind of wisdom or rational thinking ceases to be pivotal.

Dreams and fear do not co-exist well. Indeed, fear… is the place dreams go to die. Let me be both realistic and clear: we all have fears. But can we name them?

Naming our fears is important, because when we name them a process can be initiated by which it becomes possible to relegate those fears to a state of insignificance. And, of course, when fear is dispatched, dreams are empowered to live. (Slight pause.)

Let me suggest something. Please look at those stones which were given out; stare at them. Take a moment and name them by giving them the name or the names of whatever fear or fears you have. Name the stones with that fear, those fears, your fears. (Long pause.)

Now, we will go around again and please put those stones, now named with your fears, into a container. We will then place the containers on the welcoming table of God, the Communion table, a place where fear is transformed into trust of God.

Please let this act signify that you want to relinquish any fear you have. Let this act signify that you want to surrender any fear you have to God. (There is a pause as the stones are gathered and placed on the Communion table.)

Mark’s Gospel indicates Jesus said this: “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.” (Pause.)

I think the woman who contributed to the treasury placed her trust in God. Indeed, she knew her world, the world around her, was filled with fear.

Much of that fear was somehow directed at her, a woman, a widow, an outcast, someone who had no status in that society. Society, needing a place for its fear, fear which abounded in that era, placed its fear on that widow. Therefore and paradoxically, society feared her.

But she… but she trusted God. Knowing that she could place her trust in God, she was able to name her fears. And, having named her fears, she could name her dreams.

I think it’s likely she realized God had a dream for her. It’s likely she realized God has a dream for all people as she contributed to the treasury. And it’s likely she found a way to know the dream God had for her was central to her life. (Slight pause.)

I think this is obvious: Dr. King recognized the dreams God has for us are central, recognized God has a dream for all people. And we, as a church, make that claim. We, as a church, recognize God has a dream for all people. (Pause.)

So, having surrendered your fears, placed them on those stones, what are the dreams you have for yourself? (Slight pause.) Having relinquished your fears, what are the dreams you have for others? (Slight pause.) Having banished your fears, what are the dreams you have for this church? (Pause.)

At this time of year many churches do a stewardship campaign and often use this reading to talk about that. Stewardship, rumor to the contrary, is not about money. Stewardship is about our dreams.

Again, let me ask, what are the dreams we have for this church— this church, meaning us, together? How can we, together, help fulfill those dreams?

This I know: our fears may be real but, if we really trust God, we never let our fears get control, never act out of fear. Indeed, let us dream the dreams for ourselves and for this church and for others, the kind of dreams God would have for us.

And so, by the grace of God and through the love of God, let us relegate fear to its proper place: at the margins of a life lived in faith. Let us live out the dream God has for us. Amen.

11/11/2024
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “The African-American poet Langston Hughes wrote these words: ‘What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun? / Or fester like a sore— / And then run? / Does it stink like rotten meat? – Or crust and sugar over— / like a syrupy sweet? / Maybe it just sags / like a heavy load. / Or does it explode? Dreams deferred deny hope, but worse, they deny God.’— the words of Langston Hughes.”

BENEDICTION: Go now, go in safety, for you cannot go where God is not. Go in love, for love alone endures. Go with purpose and God will honor your dedication. And go in peace for it is a gift of God and the Spirit of God to those whose hearts and minds are in Christ, Jesus. Amen.

[1] These are King’s words. The speech is found on multiple reputable web resources.