The Chairs upon Which We Sit - A Sermon by Philip Amerson

The Chairs upon Which We Sit

(A Sermon Delivered at St. Mark's United Methodist Church, Bloomington Indiana)

Fourth Sunday of Pentecost                                                   June 29, 2025

Philip Amerson                                         Galatians 5:1, 13-16, Luke 9:57-62

Prayer: O Christ of Pentecost; Come as the fire and burn. Come as the wind and cleanse. Come as light and reveal. Convict, convert, consecrate until we are holy thine.  Amen.

Introduction:              

The Rev. William Ritter told of a graduation ceremony at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio.  Family and friends gathered on the quadrangle seated in folding chairs. Up front were trustees, faculty, administration and the graduates. After the dean and president spoke, a nervous student came to the lectern, cleared his throat, adjusted his tie, played with his glasses, and fumbled with the microphone. In a broken voice he began: "The chairs on which we sit are not the chairs of the prophets and the apostles. The chairs on which we sit are not the chairs at the left hand of power or the right hand of glory. The chairs on which we sit are the property of the Greater Columbus, Ohio Rent-All Society."

The crowd laughed… and the student paused to let the simple point sank in. He went on “It is time move to the next place, to turn the page, to get on with it – our time together was a rented chair.”  "Wonderful as it was,” he said, "somebody else needs our place and greater fields of service need us." Life, itself, is a rented chair. We can get quite comfortable in our chairs. But we can't keep the chair... we cannot occupy the chair forever.  Life is a rented chair."  ("The Chairs on Which We Sit," William Ritter, 5/19/1996, p. 2.)

1. The God of This Twilight

Perhaps, like me, you have recently heard someone say, “We are living in the end-times.” I understand. It is a time of emotional, spiritual and institutional vertigo. For many, fear has become an everyday expectation. Something seems out of balance, shaky: immigrant arrests, university and research funding cuts, elected officials attacked, air strikes, the starving in Gaza and elsewhere, withering heatwaves.  It’s hard to absorb it all. Add to this, the almost-NBA-Champion-Pacers, and the Cubs leading the MLB Central Division.

Shall we celebrate -- or worry? Perhaps both are appropriate. Some are certain there is “waste, fraud and abuse” justifying dramatic and rapid federal expenditure cuts. Bono, the Irish singer calls for a restoration of USAID, saying, “That’s the America we love and that the world needs… It’s why I call the United States ‘God’s Country.’” Our United Methodist Council of Bishops warn against “Deplorably, racist, xenophobic, nationalistic, and anti-migrant hate speech that has become standard rhetoric for many US politicians.” (Epiphany letter, February 2025).

Amid all the confusion are so-called “Christian Nationalists.” Some are our neighbors, “everyday” Christians mostly; then there are some megachurch pastors or tele-evangelists; a White House spiritual advisor; Dozens occupy national and state leadership posts. Loseley knit but spread across the nation, many practice institutional spiritual warfare with Jericho Marches and exorcisms as they claim to be the new Apostles and Prophets. Our own Lt. Governor is in this mix. Many promote a fabricated origin story of our nation’s founding with Christian dominion over every political and cultural institution. Matthew Taylor in The Violent Take it by Force, writes “Once thought kookie, they’re now mainstream and setting the agenda for the Religious Right in America… The fringe [of the rug] has become the [whole] carpet.”

We have faced other challenging times.  On October 7, 1968, the great Baptist preacher Carlile Marney, spoke of The God of This Twilight. Addressing a nation wracked with uncertainty - Vietnam War protests, riots following the murders of Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy, and the anticipated election of Richard Nixon - Marney wondered if the “sun of our confidence was diminishing, along with the erosion of a moral space we never clearly occupied.”

Might this twilight be a dawn? Or, better, a pulsing light?  Marney challenged, “Sometimes twilight means a sharp and sudden storm.  Oh, we need a storm,” he thundered, “a wind that will sweep away a whole refuge of lies.” Then he noted, “There is no twilight for God… We are blessed by whatever hope lies within.  We are not exiled or a castoff, or a prisoner or a puppet.”

In Luke’s Gospel (Luke 9:57-62) the followers of Jesus are in a twilight time. Luke the itinerant journalist, is also known as a physician. This Gospel offers 'traveling' and ‘healing’ information about a journey filled with terror. Crowds seek clarity as to how to live, Jesus’ offers the simple words: “follow me.” “Don’t avoid the call ahead, don’t look back.”  His “follow me” teaching is made up of two core essentials – Love God, love the neighbor.

The other passage today from Galatians has Paul in affirmation – “You are set free from false expectations… Now love your neighbor as yourself.” 

1. Take Responsibility Continue the Journey

Jesus says to the crowd, it is time to move on…. to move on from fear and away from past spiritual paralysis. When persons, no matter how well meaning, become spiritual warfare mongers, spreading hatred and toxic Christianity, we are obliged to speak up. When Christian symbols and theology are distorted, contradicting the core message of Jesus, we must admit a Christian identity problem and address it.  When the Bible is turned into a “conspiracy decoder ring,” with proof texts that poison civic life, it is past time for some Intra-Christian dialogue. Unbelievably some of leaders even distort the tragedy slavery, saying the counting persons as 3/5^th human was a benefit. Claims that others who disagree, are demon possessed are announced. Those who differ are written off as WOKE followers of the devil. Enough. It is time to speak up with a clear “NO” this is not who we are as a nation or as other people of faith.  ALL are the children of God… Let’s listen and learn to disagree without such untruths that may lead to actual violence, as happened with the death of legislator Hortman in Minnesota.

The remarkable Biblical scholar, Walter Brueggemann, who died just three weeks ago, saw the false doctrines of Christian Nationalism emerging when he wrote: The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in a society that lives in illusion, grieve in a society that practices denial, and express hope in a society that lives in despair.

1. Three, Independence Week, Practices:

This week before Independence Day I encourage three practices: two rather simple, and one more difficult. First, the easy two: 1) Pray daily that you will better practice the love of God and neighbor; 2) Read the words of the hymn “This is My Song” (#437 in UMC Hymnal).  (The message is that “Our song is of a God who cares for all the nations and people.” We will place the stanzas online.)  3) Now, the more difficult one -- you have probably already guessed it.  Find and speak with someone this week who holds a different view than yours.  They may not be a Christian Nationalist but speak with at least one with whom you suspect you disagree. Don’t try to change them, rather try to listen. Pray, Read, Listen.  Are there not bigger things to be done?  Of course.  These are happening but our small acts are essential as well.

Los Angeles Rabbi Sharon Brous recently called on her community to make a commitment to meet others where they are. “You don’t have to fix anyone. Simply show up. Err on the side of presence.” This, she calls “the Amen effect”.  It is the sacred mandate to hear each other… especially on the hard days. She challenges us, “Sometimes the holiest work is not to pray them into the light but instead to join them in the darkness.” 

Richard Lischer, retired professor from Duke Divinity School writes: “We have been to this precipice before, and we have discovered that it’s possible to practice our faith on the very edge of it... Christians have been anointed not to rule the world but to sanctify it. Not to dominate but to consecrate. Not to harvest but to sow. And to bless this poor, broken body with some soul.”

George Mickelson, and his son were both Republican governors in South Dakota over much of the 20^th Century. The elder Michelson spoke of his grandfather moving with a young family from Iowa to central South Dakota in the late 1800's. Although it was a picturesque homestead, when the man began to plow, he discovered the land was covered with rocks. He wrote home to tell his father of his plight... “too many rocks” he wrote, saying he decided to pack up his family and return home. Michaelson said a brief note came back a week later that read, "Stay where you are. Pick up the rocks."  Amen.

++++++++++++++++++++++
Galatians 5:1, 13-16

5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. 5:14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 5:15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. 5:16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Luke 9:57-62

9:57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."  9:58 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 9:59 To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 9:60 But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 9:61 Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 9:62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."