Sermon on Acts 27:13-26
Given 14 October 2020 on Zoom for Queen’s Foundation
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord. Amen
A few weeks before I began my discernment journey that brought me to Queen’s, I went to a conference where they were giving out prayers. The prayer I received simply said, ‘It’s okay to be scared, God’s not.’ I still have the paper it was written on, and cling to it in times of my greatest feelings of Imposter Syndrome, which unfortunately seem to come more often since starting college. But the Bible tells us to not be scared. The angel Gabriel said, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary’ when she discovered the journey of faith she would go on in bearing Christ, Jesus. On Hagar’s journey into the wilderness, an angel of the Lord told her to fear not, she and Ishmael would survive and from Ishmael would come a great nation. And the angel in today’s reading said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul.’
Paul’s journey was treacherous. The weather and the sea were against him. There was no food left on the ship, and he had not been listened to, a point he was sure to highlight for an ‘I told you so’ moment in his speech to the crew. And though we all have challenging journeys in our life, it is difficult for most of us to imagine what it must have been like for those desperate travelers on perilous seas. In fact, the asylum-seekers in the English Channel in dingy boats would identify more closely to Paul and the crew than most of us present. The people who are yearning to breathe free are the spiritual descendants of Paul. They know the true hunger of starvation. They know the trauma of fleeing home. They know the pain of persecution. As most of us sit in our homes with clothes in our wardrobes, food in our fridges, running water, electricity, and WiFi, it’s easy to get complacent in our comforts that we take for granted. We can read about Paul’s journey and know it worked out okay for him because God was on his side. But the question I ask is whose side is God on today?
Liberation theology teaches us that God is the God of the oppressed and the marginalized. Throughout the Scriptures, the Hebrews, the chosen people of God, are liberated from slavery and oppression time and time again – Egypt, Babylon, Rome. Empires fall and Israel loses her shackles.
So are we Empire, or are we Israel? In the world today the oppressed and marginalized are people who suffer from systemic racism, those who are the victims of domestic violence, people who live paycheck to paycheck, the men, women, and children who flee from war, disease, destruction. Obviously we did not choose the lot in life to which we were born, but we do have choices. We can choose to condemn White Supremacy or choose to remain silent. We can choose to reduce our waste or choose to over-consume plastic and other harmful products. We can choose to proclaim that God is love and love is love or choose to not challenge homophobic or transphobic bigotry. We can choose to not be afraid when speaking the truth that God has put in our hearts. We can choose to challenge Empire. And while this takes courage, we are reminded time and again to not be afraid. Just as Mary, Hagar, Paul, and so many throughout the Bible were told fear not, we also can take comfort in these instructions.
But if you are scared, it is okay. Because God is not. Amen
Reflections of a Christian 