1 22 17 B WALK THIS WAY I Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23

I hope you can come to the church office some time in the middle of the
week, especially when we are discussing the shape and arc of Sunday morning
worship. We speak in terms of themes, musical keys, length of time standing and
sitting, old and new hymns, linking adult and childrens messages and, of course,
coming up with sermon titles. As we studied together the story of Jesus calling the
disciples to walk with him, unfortunately, the scene that came to my mind was of
Igor meeting Dr. Frankenstein in the movie, Young Frankenstein. Igor meets Dr.
Frankenstein at the train station and leads him from the platform down to the
waiting coach. He pulls out a short stick and calls out, walk this way! He hobbles
down the stairs, and then hands the doctor the stick, indicating he should also
hobble down the stairs this way. It is a completely silly scene. In the midst of it,
Dr. Frankenstein catches himself and stops walking with the stick and rolls his eyes.
When Jesus asked his new recruits, his disciples, to walk this way with him, I
wonder if somewhere along the line, the disciples caught themselves and stopped
walking that way to roll their eyes.. At first, perhaps, they just followed along
without question, only later stopping to ask why are we sacrificing comfort and
the company of family to be hungry and hang out with strangers? At first, Im
guessing they had no problem observing and listening to Jesus new ideas, until
those ideas started to sound absurd the parable about men working 4, 6, 8 and 10
hours in a day, only to be paid the same amount at quitting time. Is this the way
were going? The conflicts with the pharisees and sadducees of the temple must
have given them pause, or Jesus condensing long held Jewish law and tradition into
two commandments: Love the Lord your God, and your neighbors as yourself. They
must have asked, Do we want to walk this way?

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 Even when Jesus welcomed women and children into their midst, taking the
time to look them in the eye and fully engage them. It might have seemed silly to
the disciples to walk this way.
It wasnt until the time of the apostle Paul, the author of letters in the New
Testament and organizer of the early church, that the concept of the gospel being
foolishness was named. It is foolish to walk in the way of Christ, Paul admitted.
Foolish to think of others first. Foolish to pray for ones enemies. Today we may
consider it Foolishness that gathering toiletries and diapers will make a difference in
someones life. Foolish to think talking to someone on Sunday morning may lighten
their spiritual mood. Foolish to think showing up at the bedside of someone who is
sick will contribute to their healing. Or foolish to think that women coming together
in pink hats and green ribbons will make a positive impact on the well-being of all
people. And yet, that is what is involved in walking the way of Christ. This way is a
way that doesnt always make sense, but paves the way for greater good and
transcendent truths.
Last Monday when the United States celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther
King, Jr., member churches of the Community Renewal Society gathered at St.
Marks United Methodist Church in Chicago to declare our faith in the God of
Justice. Over 700 people were jammed into the sanctuary, choir loft and balcony, all
together to hear 20 religious leaders speak about the importance of naming our
societal ills, and joining in faith to right the wrongs of poverty, limited access to
employment and deeply embedded white privilege. It was foolishness, really, to
think that speeches and a small percentage of the population could effect any kind
of change.

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 Lest you think this is a politically motivated organization, I encourage you to
speak to one of the nine of us from First Congregational who attended this
assembly, and witnessed true renewal the kind of renewal that is possible only
through Holy Spirit and willing hearts. It was the kind of renewal that comes from
hope in something greater than the sum of our parts. We saw and felt a renewal of
faith in what is possible with God, not what is possible in the political constructs of
the state. We shared a renewed vision of Gods desire for equity and dignity for all
people. We renewed our commitment to walk the way of Christ in our individual
and collective decision making.
I was humbled to be one of the speakers at the assembly; I actually felt
foolish at first, to see myself in my orange Faith in Action t-shirt among a group of
faith leaders who have been at the forefront of risk taking and transformation for
decades. Ultimately, I shared with that congregation about what we are doing here.
I told them about our sacred conversations on race, encouraging others to have
these conversations in order to, at the start, challenge systems that are based on
white privilege. This is a piece of what I said last Monday:
In these sacred conversations on race, you will find conflicting responses. On
the one hand, there emerges a fire and desire to move and act toward identifying
racism, dismantling it and building structures based on equality and equity. On the
other hand, there is still resistance to embrace fully the reality of white privilege, the
violence of systemic racism, and the institutional racism woven into the life of
church.

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 The risk of talking about white privilege and the violence inherent in racism, is
that the discomfort is hard to sustain. There is fear of losing people, or not finding
common ground, or, God forbid, offending someone. Well guess what? God is
offended. God is offended when we stop talking. God is offended when we dont
have time to show up for organized action. God is offended when we go our own
way, rather than the way of justice that is embedded in our lives of faith. God is
offended when we go our own way.
This week is the annual week of prayer for Christian unity. It is a time when
we claim the value of walking the way of Christ rather than walking our own way, or
even the way of a particular denomination. We are not alone in walking this way.
We have good company in the foolishness of this way of self-sacrifice, the law of
love, and advocating for justice.
Christ is calling you: Walk This Way.
Amen.

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I Corinthians 1:10-18 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be
united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloes people
that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says,
I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Cephas, or I belong to Christ. Has
Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I
thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you
were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not
know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the
gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its
power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who
are being saved it is the power of God.

Matthew 4:12-23 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew
to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the
territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the
prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by
the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned. From that time Jesus began to proclaim, Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven has come near.
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter,
and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the seafor they were fishermen. And
he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fish for people. Immediately they
left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers,
James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee,
mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their
father, and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease
and every sickness among the people.