7 Easter C June 2, 2019
Luther Memorial Church Seattle, WA
The Rev. Julie Hutson
Acts 16: 16-34 + Psalm 97 + Rev 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
John 17: 20-26
It is very good to be back with you all after being away from worship for two weeks. But what a joy to witness the election of our new synodical Bishop, the first woman in our synod’s history! And what a joy to witness the marriage vows of Vicar Laura and Kate! And now here we are, back to worship the risen Christ…and so we begin with the Easter acclamation, for this final Sunday in Eastertide….
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
It seems that for the past several years there’s been a rather popular television series on HBO about a throne and kingdoms and games? Is that right? I’m not really a fan of gory violence on television or in movies. But my Beloved and our grown up kids ALL watched Game of Thrones. So, with a Fear of Missing Out, I decided I’d start watching too. On the next to the last episode. Which might not have been the best plan. After watching it for the first time…again, next to the last episode in the ENTIRE SERIES. I had questions. Who is the angry blonde woman riding the dragon? Why doesn’t everyone get a dragon? Why are there so many kingdoms? What’s the deal with the pregnant woman and her brother? And Bruce patiently answered them, even though I knew he really wanted to run screaming from the room.
In the series finale though, there was a quote that absolutely gob smacked me! While making his case for Bran the Broken to be the next ruler of the six kingdoms, Tyrion says this:
“What unites people? Armies? Gold? Flags?
Stories.
There’s nothing more powerful in the world than a good story. Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it.”
There’s nothing more powerful in the world than a good story.
Whenever we gather for worship, whether it’s on a Sunday morning or a mid week Lenten service or for a wedding or a funeral or morning prayer or compline, we always hear some portion of story…God’s story. On Sundays we generally hear from the Hebrew Bible or what we call the Old Testament, a Psalm, an Epistle or letter, and a Gospel reading. Although during Easter season we are hearing stories of the early church from the book of Acts for the first reading.
And today that story from the early church is the story of a woman, a slave girl, whose owners made a great deal of money off of her ability to tell stories. Stories that people were longing to hear…of what might be their fortune. Stories that had been determined to come from the presence of some spirit or demon within her. But in today’s reading, the story she is telling is a true story. It is the story of who Paul and Silas are and what their mission is.
“These are faithful followers of the most High God who proclaim to you a way of salvation” she cried. And so they were. Paul had referred to himself already as a slave to the Gospel. God was often referred to as the Most High. Paul and Silas were proclaiming the Gospel as a way of salvation. She was absolutely telling the truth, although the text notes that she was only able to do so because of the spirit that was in her.
Telling the old old story of the Most High God is not limited to those of us who have the privilege of preaching. It is not limited to the educated or the old or the young or the prophetic or the wise or the foolish. It is not limited at all.
Last week when Bruce and I were in Ohio, we visited with some very dear people from my first call congregation. Carol and Darlene have a grandson who is severely autistic. School and other public places and situations are very, very difficult for Gage. But I remember him as a toddler in worship service. He sat in front and listened to every word, watched every act…he listened to the liturgy tell the story of God’s love week in and week out. Going to church is one of his favorite things. But it’s hard. He can’t always manage it. Every afternoon, Gage, who is now a young teenager, calls his grandmothers and this is their conversation: “Hi Grandmas. Hi Gage. Peace be with you. And also with you. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen, Gage.”
When I witnessed this last week….it brought me to tears. Gage, who has so many struggles, so many things that limit him in the world, is a faithful teller of the story of the Most High God.
You know what else tells the story of the Most High God? Weddings. Whether it’s 25 people encircling Julie and Daryl in this space or ninety people weeping over the vows of Kate and Laura….weddings tell the story of the love of the most High God. And what is mind boggling is that, as much love as there is at a wedding? God’s love for us is that times….infinity as we used to say as kids.
You know what else tells the story of the Most High God? Heartbreak. For in the midst of every kind of sorrow, God’s love enfolds us. It does not leave us. It comes to us as comfort or balm; it stays with us as consolation and constant companion. In the midst of our greatest disappointments, our deepest worries, or the shocking turns life can take…the story of the Most High God is a story of God’s faithfulness in the midst of it all. It is the story of a God who does not walk away or turn away or go away.
Today we have a unique experience surrounding our assigned Scripture texts. All of the readings we heard today, they ARE the story but they are also ABOUT telling the story. In the Psalm it is the heavens who proclaim the justice of God. They tell it far and near, that YHWH is the Most High over all the earth. There’s that language again, the Most High.
In the reading from Revelation the angel sent by Jesus has been given the task of testimony, of telling the story. Of saying that all who are thirsty, all who want life giving water should come to the fountain of living water that does not run dry.
And in the Gospel reading Jesus tells the story of God, revealing it to the ones he has been sent to and continuing to reveal it so that the love of God may live in them.
This is why we tell the story. So that the love of God may live in us, in those who hear the story, and in all of Creation. We don’t tell it to say how wonderful we are or how others should hear and follow a set of arbitrary rules or moral codes. We don’t tell it to justify what we have or what we’ve done. We do not have to be able to explain every nuance or parse every word of Scripture. Because we aren’t telling the story of the Bible. We are telling the story of the Most High God. The Bible is a collection of stories ABOUT God. But it isn’t God. We don’t tell the story to create Biblical scholars or prove that we are one. We tell the story so that love has a way of being spoken into the world, so that love has a way of being spoken into being. So that love becomes incarnate among us…taking on flesh and bone.
When the fortune telling slave girl from Acts annoys Paul with her story, he calls the spirit out of her. And that is the last we hear about her. She is never mentioned again. She stopped being profitable to her employers and she stopped being necessary for Luke’s story telling. But I like to think that she continued to be a truth teller. That she continued to tell the old old story, that wasn’t so old at that point. That she continued to see people in the world and maybe the world itself proclaiming the way of salvation. I imagine that while Paul and Silas were embroiled in the drama of the jail and the jailer that is the remainder of the Acts reading today, her story continued on in ways that brought love into being. The love of the Most High God.
There’s nothing more powerful in the world than a good story. A story that brings love into being.
Thanks be to God, and let the Church say…Amen.