A Sermon Preached for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year A by the Rev’d Jered Weber-Johnson It seems kind of strange today for me during
“The way to God, is not a way that leads us out of this world. God can be known and experienced, God’s power can be shared and apprehended, God’s face is available to us, right here, and right now. Jesus says, he is the way and the truth and the life, and invites us to know him. So look for him, friends, by loving others, by serving, by seeing and knowing that each face around you is shimmering with the glory and grace of a God who loves you and all of creation with a fierce and unending love. Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have seen the face of God.”
The sheepfold stands in contrast to the reality in which we live, where we
are told that we cannot rest, because there isn’t and never will be enough,
that we must always keep working for more and more and more. But the
sheepfold is a place of rest that God is calling us to, to lie down in green
pastures as we read in psalm 23, and taking time to rest in our physical
sacred spaces like the one we are in today, helps not only reinvigorate us
to go back out into the world to share and invite others into God’s abundance, but also to center us in God’s love so that we may hear and
know God’s voice when we are called.
“… We are called to act faithfully even while doubting. Even to fake it until we make it, and then repeat the process again—to live, being as faithful as we can, to the truth that keeps beckoning us.”
Becoming Beloved Community means all of us, across every line and barrier, white and black and brown, gay, straight, trans, gender queer, non-binary, poor, rich, Muslim, Christian, atheist, and Jew, spiritual or not – all of us get free together or we don’t get free at all. The work of creating beloved communities includes liberation for all people, and, indeed, on this Earth Day Sunday, we are reminded that the “network of mutuality” and “garment of destiny” includes this precious planet, our island home, all creatures and ecosystems, and neighborhoods – the land and the water and the air which sustain life – our liberation is connected to all that is. We cannot get free alone.
When you look in the mirror, what do you see? This body we are given, this flesh and blood and a heart that pumps, if our faith is to be believed, this body is made in the very image and likeness of God. When you peer into the mirror, is it the face of God you see blinking back at you?
When we walk through clean pain; into and through that sea of terrifying chaos; We need each other. We need God and community. We cannot heal by ourselves. God heals us through relationships in community. Communities just like this one.
A sermon for the funeral of Paula Cooey, by the Rev. Jered Weber-JohnsonSt. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, St. Paul, MN.March 30th, 2023 https://youtube.com/live/Nd6egxtImro A
Who are you in spite of, or because of your fragility? from your weakness what are you being called to do? Are you stagnant in your comfort and ease? The work of justice does not wait for us to be perfectly healthy, well, and stable. Sometimes it simply calls us to ask questions, search for what is right, and knock on doors of possibility. The true legacy of Harriett Tubman is not what she overcame, but what she dared do in the face of all that plagued her body and attempted to squash her spirit. Fragility and discomfort are no longer acceptable excuses for complacency.
A sermon by the Rev. Jered Weber-JohnsonMarch 16th, 2023St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, St. Paul, MN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NziE6WAZWOY&t=2768s It will come as no surprise to
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