The Good News Proclaimed
Preached by the Reverend Canon Durrell Watkins at
the Sunshine Cathedral on
Sunday, March 2, 2008, at the 8:40 and 9:50 am
services.
I went through a period where I really struggled with my faith. It’s just
us, so I can be honest with you, right? You see, I love the bible, and some of
my most treasured relationships came from the church. I’ve had profound
experiences during contemplative prayer. I’ve always been religious and
religion has comforted and challenged and empowered me, and so by nature I am
just religious. But so many terrible things have been done in the name of
religion, it can give one pause.
Southern denominations were founded to support and perpetuate the practice
of slave trading.
The crusades and the inquisition are not only horrible moments in human
history, they are initiatives of religion… specifically, MY religion…
Christianity.
The bible is full of violence, and instead of reading that violence with
skepticism or concern, Christians have often venerated it and claimed that it
was good!
The anti-Semitism that led to the holocaust was supported by the attitudes
of Christians.
Some of the most horrible acts of racism in the South were perpetrated by
people who were in church every Sunday of their lives.
Wars have been waged by political leaders claiming that God was on their
side.
The brutal anti-gay violence in Jamaica is often carried out by scripture
quoting Christians. But we need not peer through the windows of another
culture to see the effects of homophobia… in this very country, political
candidates promise to “defend traditional marriage” — which is simply code
language for denying equal rights to same-gender-loving people. These
candidates have the support of the Christian Right.
And so, with so much pain and injustice caused in the name of Jesus and by
those who claim to follow him, I have wondered if Christianity was redeemable.
It got so bad at one point, I wouldn’t tell people what I did for a living.
I went to pick up my seven-year-old niece from school one day and her teacher
met me at the door. She said, “Mr. Watkins, I just need to tell you that your
niece said the most outrageous thing today. We were talking about what people
in our families do for a living, and she told the class that her Uncle Durrell
was a piano player in a brothel!” I was a little embarrassed as I had to
admit, “Oh, well, that’s my fault. You see, I tell her that… in reality I’m a
Christian minister, but how can you explain that to a seven-year-old?!”
But eventually, I got over it. I see you’re relieved to hear that. I once
read a Bishop Spong essay where he said, “The problem with Christianity isn’t
that it failed; the problem with Christianity is that is has never been
tried.” And that inspired me.
Jesus, the Galilean prophet who is the primary symbol of my faith
experience, is still worthy of our consideration. When we look at his life,
his example, his teaching, his courage, his hope, his compassion… it doesn’t
matter that the institutional church has gotten it wrong time and again!
The institution isn’t my source of inspiration. And so here I am, and here
we are, continuing to promote progressive, positive, practical values that
heal, empower, and liberate human beings. Rather than worshiping our fears and
prejudices and putting Jesus’ face on them, we are making the commitment to
discover the life-giving message of Jesus… a message that comforts the
afflicted even as it afflicts the comfortable!
The message of Jesus is that YOU are the light of the world, we are the
light of the world… a city built on a hill top cannot be hidden (Matthew
5.14). We must stand up, we must speak up, we must grow up, we must lift
others up, we must be the light of hope and encouragement and inclusion and
justice and healing that Jesus was and that Jesus knew we could be!
We are the ones that God called to stand with victims of oppression in
Jamaica.
We are the ones that God has called to give pounds and pounds of food to
families in need in Broward County every month.
We are the ones that God has called to offer compassion to a young man
mowed down by a hit-and-run driver outside a nightclub.
We are the ones that God has called to consistently preach good news of
hope to people who haven’t ever heard the truth of their sacred value.
We are the ones to tell every person, “You are lovable, because you are
made in the image of God, and God is love.”
We are the ones to struggle with Christianity’s mistakes and offer a more
inclusive, more loving, more life-giving way of being followers of Jesus in
the Third Millennium.
We are the ones to invite more and more people into this peace-loving,
justice-seeking community.
We are the ones who are called to be Christ in the world… not by what we
believe about Jesus, but by following his example of sharing the light with
the world! Beliefs are just opinions and opinions can change, but living in
the power of love… that can and should be a constant, and as we grow into that
calling we will change the world!
The writer of the Epistle to the Ephesians claims to be the Apostle Paul,
but most scholars now believe that Ephesians was written well after the time
of Paul. In any case, the writer of the book of Ephesians writes this to his
audience, “…in the Lord you are light. [So] live as children of light — for
the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true” (5.8-9).
Now that’s good business no matter who said it!
You are light, so live as children of light, for the fruit of light is
found in all that is good and right and true
. That’s the message of our
gospel reading today:
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their
synagogues, preaching good news… and healing every disease and sickness. When
he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The
harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest,
therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field.” He called his twelve
disciples to him and gave them authority to confront evil and to heal all
manner of brokenness and dis-ease
(Matthew 9.35 – 10.1).
By calling ourselves progressive Christians, by calling ourselves followers
of the way of Jesus, we mean that we are people who will answer Jesus’ call to
be the light that we are! We will confront injustice and we will offer hope
and compassion and healing to all who need it. The harvest is ready, and we
have been called to be laborers in the harvest field. Using our time, our
talent, our treasure, our commitment, our prayers, our willingness to be who
we are and to live with dignity and courage as the people we are is how we can
be laborers in the field. We can answer that call. We must. And as we do, we
will be sharing the light with the world. This is the good news. Amen.