And Are We Yet Alive: June 28th Sermon Preached by the Reverend Rob Lee

A Sermon Preached by the Reverend Rob Lee

Psalm 13, Exodus 6:1-13

June 28^th, 2015

FBC|WJ

Will you pray with me?

Risen Lord! shall yet the city be the city of despair? Come today, our Judge, our Glory; be its name, “The Lord is there!” God may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing in your sight O Lord our strength, and our redeemer. Amen.

            In the mountains of North Carolina sits a cross, a cross that lights up at night much like the one behind me. In the mountains of North Carolina sits an auditorium below that cross, where I first heard God’s call on my life. Lake Junaluska is a piece of Heaven for me. There I feel refreshed and renewed with grace. Back in my Methodist days we’d gather there for Annual Conference, a business session on steroids if you will, we’d worship, we’d vote, and we’d reconnect.

            You see it’s tradition at these gatherings to sing certain hymns. One of them is one we’ll sing today, And Are We Yet Alive, a sturdy Charles Wesley tune that begs the question of if we are alive to be in fellowship and friendship with one another. It’s a good question to ask, but we’ll see more of that in a minute.

            Today we hear words from Exodus, God’s promise to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt through God’s servant Moses. These are timely words, words that we need to hear today. Because frankly now is a good time to begin freeing each other and ourselves from what binds us. And I think I caught a glimpse of that in Washington D.C. with our youth on their mission trip

            You see I feel like I saw Amanda, Caroline, Chelsie and Kennedy confront the Pharaoh of government, and speak truth to power. I saw Stephanie and Jane our fearless chaperones confront oppression and injustice. And yes, even I felt the transformative power of watching our youth shine with the light of Christ.

            You see it’s not an easy undertaking to go to Washington or to Egypt, Moses knew it and I realized it this past week. It begs the question, and are we yet alive? Or maybe better than that, and are we in our right minds? Are we in our right minds to go to a place that is portrayed in the news media as a den of vipers? Are we alive enough to confront the most powerful government this world has seen since the glory days of Britain or Rome?

            And are we yet alive? The answer is no, some of us aren’t. While we were on our trip 9 people were shot and killed and sacrificed in a church on the altar of white supremacy. And are we yet alive? The answer is no because we are blinded by our own sins of systemic racism and hatred.

            And are we yet alive? The answer is yes for some of us, physically, and no for some of us spiritually or emotionally. We’re dead to this world because we’ve just stopped caring. We’ve run from Egypt like Moses did, either by our own fault or because of sheer apathy. But you see that’s where God comes in and reminds us what it’s like to be alive.

            God says, “Go and tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt to let my people go.” You see we like the Israelites need a good word. We need the freeing words of grace. People of good faith in Charleston need the promise of the Jordan now. People of sound mind in Baltimore need the hope of the resurrection now. People down on their luck in Washington D.C. who we encountered need the promise of the Good Shepherd now.

As I was in D.C. I wondered what would happen if Christians became fully alive and went to Egypt? I wonder if it would be similar to the great battles of history. I wonder if it would be like the Visigoths marching over the Seven Hills to finally conquer the Roman Empire, or the Battles between Washington and Cornwallis where not a wave of bloodshed but grace overtook our land and this country like those battles did in violence, we could do in freedom. I caught a glimpse of that outpouring of tears and hard work and hope with these youth speaking truth to power and honestly I felt alive.

I felt inspired. I felt inspired by these young people to continue my mission and ministry in this world, and you should too. Because speaking truth to power is what the church does. It was T.S. Eliot who wrote: "Why should men love the Church? Why should they love her laws? She tells them of Life and Death, and of all that they would forget. She is tender where they would be hard, and hard where they like to be soft. She tells them of Evil and Sin, and other unpleasant facts."  You see church it’s our job to remind the powers at be, the Pharaohs of this land that God is not done with God’s people yet. God is working in Charleston, God is working in Washington D.C. and yes God is working right here in West Jefferson.

The church’s purpose, its entire existence hinges on freeing people from the bondage of sin and despair. We are beacons of the resurrection, and we are people who were once slaves in Egypt, but now are free. Because in the end, as we have seen this past week in so many ways, love prevails. Love prevailed in D.C. in Charleston, South Carolina, and yes love won.

In this free world in which we live and have our being it’s easy to lose track and get complacent with our freedom. And we Baptists of all people should celebrate our freedom. For when we celebrate our freedom and redemption from the bonds of slavery in Egypt we simultaneously give others permission to be freed as well.

I can remember the first time I met Lizzie the poodle. Lizzie was down on her luck. She was born to show poodles, and her owner wanted a perfect poodle specimen to be able to show. But Lizzie has a brown nose and poodles are supposed to have black noses if their going to be show animals. When I met Lizzie she was chained up outside while the other poodles were inside. When I met Lizzie the owner told me there were other poodles that might be more desirable inside. But I could tell Lizzie was for me.

I am confident that one of the manifestations of the glory of God is a poodle being fully alive. (To borrow from Saint Irenaeus) Lizzie is now living and loving and kind. But most of all, she is desired. We all yearn to be desired, to have basic human dignity and rights. The youth saw this in D.C. this past week as they met with persons who hadn’t always had human dignity, or persons who are fighting for equality even to this day.

You see in a world where we argue over healthcare and marriage rights we forget the people in those issues who simply need to be loved. I know from watching Facebook this past week that we all don’t agree on these issues. But First Baptist I know it to be true about you that we may not be uniform in thought, but we are united in love. We are called regardless of our disagreements to be alive; to show respect for human dignity and show a love that can warm even the hardest of hearts. We are called to remember that these issues are more than political or religious talking points; they are about people who yearn to be alive like we are. So in your actions, in your words, in your posts on social media, may we all remember that God is bigger and greater and more mysterious than us, and God calls us to live and be free. Free from hatred and prejudice, free from bonds of whatever binds us, and free from our own self-pity and doubt.

Dear people of God, may you experience what it means to be truly alive. May you experience your freedom and identity as a follower of the risen Christ in new and awesome ways this week. But most importantly may you go to Egypt, wherever that is for you. May you free people who are bound by the slavery of sin and death, may you free people to live and love and feel the warmth of God’s grace. So that when someone asks, and are we yet alive, we may give a resounding yes. We may give a resounding yes and be free. All glory, honor, and power be to the one who was, who is, and who is to come. Amen.