2 Pentecost/Year A - June 14, 2020
Genesis 18:1-15; (21:1-7); Psalm 116:1, 10-17; Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:8
God will transform our private laughter of disbelief into shared laughter of astonishment, joy, and delight. (saltproject.org)
I was able to attend and participate in two different graduation ceremonies this week…One was online…the other was in person.
The one I attended in person, to give the opening invocation, and the closing benediction, was a local ceremony for those graduating from the Alaska Law Enforcement Training Academy…The graduating class, was a diverse group, who had endured a rigorous and well-rounded training, equipping them to serve their communities where-ever they would be called to go after their graduation. I heard inspiring words by the speakers, who spoke of lessons learned and wisdom gained in these past few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent uprising of voices and actions taking place across the world, in response to the centuries long issue of systemic racism.
The other graduation this week, was for Muriel…one of the children who grew up here at St Peter’s…Muriel and other students from her college were celebrating a new goal reached in their lives...in earning their master’s degrees in the arts and music field…Muriel was one of the speakers for the ceremony…and offered some inspiring words…as well as some of the other speakers…who also shared the lessons learned and the wisdom gained in these past several months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent uprising of voices and actions taking place across the world, in response to the centuries long issue of systemic racism.
At both of these graduations…although for two very different career paths…they shared much of the same lessons learned, and wisdom gained. Each one of the ceremonies…pretty much began with the words of unbelief…never imagining that this year would unfold in the way it had…there were shared sentiments…that today’s graduation ceremony, was not what they would have envisioned.
There were shared insights, that spoke of how difficult these past few months had been in their journeys…yet their stories of perseverance, their commitment to their goals, their dreams, their aspirations to use their diverse and varied gifts to serve the people, and the world around them were full of hope and reasons for joy and laughter and celebration…
So, although, initially, they were perhaps, nervously laughing to themselves, in disbelief at how their year and culmination of all their months and years of training, had been thrown into the midst of such chaos…they came through this time…with new, and unexpected joys, new and unexpected delights, new and unexpected reasons to laugh and celebrate…new reasons to laugh and celebrate and give thanks for the way that God, transformed their private laughter of disbelief, into shared laughter of astonishment, joy and delight…
I came across that wonderful phrase this past week, on a website called saltproject.org (not sure on the author)
God will transform our private laughter of disbelief into shared laughter of astonishment, joy, and delight. (saltproject.org)
This makes me think about Abraham, and Sarah in today’s 1st reading….
Sarah initially laughed, in disbelief when she and Abraham were told, that even though they were old, and advanced in years, that Sarah would bear a child, they would have a son. Here’s that passage again that we heard a few moments ago:
So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”
We later heard in that first reading, that indeed Sarah did bear a son, just as God had promised….and he was named Isaac…Sarah’s laughter was transformed…
Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
And then, my thoughts turned to our gospel reading today…and I wonder too, if the disciples were laughing to themselves in disbelief, when Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. I wonder, if this diverse group of the apostles, that are named in today’s reading, were laughing nervously to themselves, in disbelief when Jesus sent them out into the world with these instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.
I imagine these first laborers sent out to do the work they were being called to do…to proclaim the good news of God’s love…and kingdom coming very near…here on earth…found themselves laughing to themselves, often, in disbelief….crying, in disbelief…ready to give up, in disbelief…tired, beyond tired…in looking out at the world, and looking at themselves, and thinking…when will all this disease and illness end…when will all this suffering end…when will the kingdom really be near…because right now…it stills seems pretty far off…
What about you and I? We’ve been summoned by Jesus, too… How often, lately, have you shook your head, and nervously laughed to yourself, in disbelief…cried in disbelief…ready to give up, in disbelief…tired beyond tired…in looking out at the world, and looking within at ourselves…and wondering…when will all of this suffering end…when will this pandemic be over…this covid-19 pandemic that is infecting our hearts and our bodies and our lives in the past several months…this pandemic of racism, that has infected our hearts and our bodies and our lives for hundreds of years… when will this kingdom, built upon a foundation of Love for God, for one another, and all of God’s creation, really be near… because right now...it still seems pretty far off…at times..”
When? When we stop laughing to ourselves in disbelief, thinking nothing will ever change…When we repent of our sins that keep us from fully loving our neighbors, and turn our hearts again towards trusting and believing in the Word of God, in the promises of God,…putting all of our hope in God…knowing that it is God who will transform our private laughter of disbelief into shared laughter of astonishment, joy, and delight. (saltproject.org)
We know it’s possible…we’ve seen how God has transformed laughter of disbelief, into a laughter of unexpected joy and delight, as we heard in the story about Sarah and Abraham today…
We know it’s possible, we have seen how God has transformed laughter of disbelief, into a laughter of unexpected joys and delights, as we heard in the stories of the two graduation ceremonies that I spoke about today…
We know it’s possible, we have seen how God has transformed laughter, of disbelief …. into bringing unexpected joy and delight to people whose lives had been oppressed for many years….
We have been witness to this transformation in the stories of the labors of our ancestors, and other saints and martyrs who have gone on before us…who began the hard work of paving a way for justice and peace and equity for all God’s people….
We know this work has really only begun… we still have a long way to go, for all God’s people to be truly free to live and work and dream dreams for themselves and their children….and to fully share in the laughter and joy and delight in all God desires for all of God’s people.
It’s our turn now…to continue the work, that was started, so very long ago.
God is inviting each one of us, to work together, with our varied gifts, right where we are…no matter what stage of life we find ourselves in…to proclaim the good news of God’s love for everyone…to strive for justice and peace for everyone…to respect the dignity of every human being… to proclaim a gospel of hope…
A Hope in God, A Hope in Jesus Christ, A hope that will not disappoint us…because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
A hope that proclaims: this is not the end of the story…a hope that decides that death is no longer an option…(The Rev Dr William Barber III); A Hope, that encourages us, to begin anew, every morning…A Hope that whispers to us… I am with you always…
Hope in God….God will transform our private laughter of disbelief into shared laughter of astonishment, joy, and delight. (saltproject.org)
After sermon: The Hymnal 1982 - #376 Joyful, joyful, we adore thee/piano
Rev. Julie Platson, Rector, St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK