We Are Revolutionaries!

PPLP – Langenburg / Churchbridge SK

10th Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary 20 – Year C

Isaiah 5:1-7

Psalm 82

Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Luke 12:49-56

God of restless fire and urgent river’s flow:

unsettle the false peace which hides our divisions;

unfold your kingdom and make us one in Jesus Christ,

the first of many brothers and sisters. Amen.

_________________________________

“We are revolutionaries.” This was said by Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as part of his second keynote address to the worldwide gathering of Anglican Bishops, early in August of this year.

Revolutionaries! Revolutionaries?

Hmm. I’d have to hazard that this is a word we don’t use much to describe what we do as the Christian community, and yet, if we look at passages of the bible, we’re guaranteed to find such incendiary messages, including today’s gospel passage.

Yet, Archbishop Justin proclaimed these words in all seriousness.

So, to give weight to his assertion that we are, in fact, revolutionaries, how do we feel about this description?

I have to admit that we who have grown up in the Lutheran church may have to take a moment to see where and how we have been and are encouraged to be revolutionaries in our lifetimes.

But perhaps we need to have more information on the topic as a whole.

Today we see a quite frustrated Jesus. We see that he has the desire to see things change, and like the rest of us, waiting for that change to take hold in lives and hearts is a difficult process.

Today Jesus proclaims: “49‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!” (Do you see the frustration in his face?) He continues: “51Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” (Lk 12:49-51)

He's talking about revolution, isn’t he? Because this is what happens in a revolution: Lines become drawn, families are divided, and casualties result on all sides.

And we’ve heard this text before. It comes to us from Luke every three years, yet each time, we often find ourselves cringing at the message of division in a world where we long for unity.

We try to escape from words that draw us apart in a world where we desire peace and unity.

So maybe in that vein, we need to revisit the archbishop’s message that calls us to be revolutionaries. He goes on to clarify: “the Christian revolution must be one of mercy and forgiveness, generosity and engagement.”

And in our minds and hearts this puts a whole new twist on any ideas of revolution, doesn’t it?

The arm’s we’re called to pick up are our own, attached to each of our shoulders. And we’re called to use those arms to love, and to embrace, and to live into the love of God for the whole of creation.

We’re called to have a revolution of grace and love, of forgiveness and reconciliation, and that may be harder than it looks.

It’s harder than it looks because our society, helped down this particular rabbit hole, by the coronavirus guidelines to isolate, is continuing to lean more toward isolation in absolutely every facet of life, than it is toward gathering as family, as community, as a corporate expression of itself.

In reality, then, as we know, it becomes harder to pull people out of practices of isolation than it took to mandate them into isolation.

And in this, then, we are able to share in Jesus’ frustration, and we are able to resonate with the archbishops call to revolution as well.

But this isn’t the only text in the bible that is considered ‘a call to arms.’ It’s not the only place where revolution can affix a label.

I had the honour of sitting through a three-session webinar, last Advent, on the Song of Mary, also known as the Magnificat.

As I was serving a primarily Anglican congregation, then, it was a point of conversation with my head of music as to why a Lutheran webinar on the Magnificat would take place in Advent, when everyone is busy getting ready for the change from Advent to Christmas in our lives, in the church, and in our hearts.

He was shocked to find out that we, as Lutherans, only really look at this text in Advent. For a ‘well steeped’ Anglican, it comes up every time they do evening prayer.

But this leads to the point that when the British colonized India, they forbade the Magnificat’s use in service, and eventually banned the practice of Evening prayer or evensong, in India.

It was banned because the government didn’t want the newly colonized population to discover the message of revolution in Mary’s words.

“46 And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, 48 for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’” (Lk 1:46-55)

Do you hear the words of revolution in Mary’s song?

From a person whose position in society is as of one of the least, we find these incredible words of power, of revolution, and of God’s revelation, as well.

And this brings us back to the fact that our revolution isn’t a revolution of violence, unless it’s to challenge the violence we see and experience in society with God’s love.

It brings us back to the fact that we are called to share God’s love and to be generous with the whole world.

We are mandated to be merciful, and to forgive ourselves and each other.

We are in a revolution to turn the world from its self-destructive ways and to bring life and love and peace to the hearts of all around us.

Have you noticed, in recent decades that our world has changed?

A change that has been coming over society in gradual and not so gradual ways as our focus shifts, as technology plays a more defining role, as the aim of society makes it more challenging to maintain those family values that we knew in past decades.

Self-help is becoming the byword of our generation, but without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, without the aid of others who introduce us to the Holy Spirit, to the Son, and to the Father, how does society remember that we are all one body? How do they know they, too, are a part of this rebellion, that they’re also revolutionaries?

Jesus tells us: “51Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’” (Lk 12:51-53)

Jesus’ message of love, of forgiveness, of inclusion, of generosity, and of engagement is a message that is revolutionary to a world that seeks to isolate and to pull us apart.

So, it’s up to us; this ‘sleeper cell’ of the revolution. It’s our turn to live into the teachings of Jesus, not pushing people away because of differences, but rather pulling them close and loving them with love that is truly and divinely inspired.

How will we step up and change the world? Will we talk about where and how God has touched our lives? Often seen in retrospect, but still there, nonetheless.

Will we tell people how coming to church is a way to rest, to revive our hearts and souls for the tasks that come day to day, week to week, and season to season?

Will we be bold enough to approach someone with whom we’ve had a disagreement and not only beg their forgiveness but invite them for a coffee? Or dare I say it, invite them to church?

And I include the last because there are so many ways in which we often offend, sometimes without meaning it, where we disregard those who think differently than we do, or have different priorities for their lives, these days. Priorities made with the aim of meeting the physical needs of family and forgetting that we are spiritual creatures, as well.

The archbishop is right, when he says: “We are revolutionaries” When he says: “the Christian revolution must be one of mercy and forgiveness, generosity and engagement.”

And in such a way, then we also embrace Jesus’ message in today’s gospel, the message that his words, that God’s love against the mandates and policies of humanity is revolutionary, and it’s different.

We are revolutionaries. How will we change the world, today? Who will we embrace?

Amen.