Recently I was at an event where the organizer of the event said these words, “I mean if you are 80 you should just sit down in a rocking chair and be done!” These words were not said in passing but rather in the speakers closing remarks to 300 people. I was appalled at this comment. I was appalled because I don’t believe it. I was appalled because the majority of the folks in the room were 80 or reaching that age and I was appalled because we were all in Olympia, WA at the Statehouse participating in a faith advocacy day! This comment was made in the context of talking about older, white, straight, men needing to give up some of their power and position so that others may lead… which I agree with that statement but I do not agree that 80 years olds should just sit down in a rocker and be done! This comment has not sat well with me all week. I was deeply offended and it wasn’t even made towards my generation so I can only imagine what those folks in the room were feeling. I couldn’t shake this comment and I kept reflecting on it all week. At the same time that I couldn’t shake this comment I was also struggling to write this sermon! The lectionary texts were not particularly appealing to me and I was not finding an entry point to come up with this sermon but then it hit me as I was walking home from my bus stop. God is speaking to Sarah and Abraham in our Old Testament reading from this morning. Sarah and Abraham were old! Like older than 80! 99 years old to be exact! And God spoke to Abraham and said “listen up, I’m not done with you yet… no actually I’m going to give you and Sarah a baby boy so that your offspring will lead the next generations to come.” Sometimes God has the wildest plans as God just told 99 year old folks that they will have a baby! Imagine if God spoke to you right now and said you will have a baby! What we miss in this lectionary is verse 17 that says, “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed”. I think we often want to fall on our face and laugh at some of the things we think God might be calling us to but I bet many of you would react in the same way as Abraham if God spoke to you right now and said you will have a baby!!! The image of this story kept going through my mind, here is God working through this elderly couple to bring about a future for generations to come. They are 99 years old and God is not going to let them sit in a rocker and be done. What great timing for the lectionary to have this story! On Tuesday I heard that if you are 80 years old you should just sit in a rocking chair and be done and on Sunday I get to preach that this isn’t the case! I get to point to Sarah and Abraham and say, God used these 99 year olds to establish a covenant so I doubt God is done with you when you are 80! I doubt God is done with you when you are 70 or 60 or 50. I doubt God is ever done with you. Sarah and Abraham were not sitting in their rocking chairs doing nothing they were entering a covenant with God to bear a child. And not just any child but a child that will lead the next generations! No wonder Abraham fell on his face laughing! But the grace in this story is that you don’t age out of God’s call. God doesn’t only call young people or queer people or people of color. God also calls old people and straight people and white people. We are called! We all have gifts and we are all valuable in the eyes of God! So I urge you not to find your rocking chair because we need you! The we being younger people like myself. I have heard a lot of talk recently that we need young folks to lead and fix this nation that is in great despair. While I agree that we do need young people to lead and bring in fresh ideas, we also need you. We need your wisdom. We need your voice. Yes, young people should start to lead. Yes, we also need the wisdom of young people but we need the wisdom of you too. You have lived through much of the same things we are currently experiencing and unfortunately we are seeing much of it again. There are also new problems thrown into the mix but we need each voice or else things will not get better. We need to know what worked and what didn’t. We need to know how you are feeling about the current realities of our world. We stand on your shoulders as we continue to follow God’s call to show justice and love to this world and we need you right next to us supporting and guiding us! You are our elders and God is not done with you yet. Maybe you didn’t experience mass shootings when you were younger but you experienced other injustices. The topic of racism, wage disparity, economic justice, gender equality and many others are not new topics for you all. Maybe you are even tired of talking about these topics because they are not new and you have fought for so many years to bring about justice. And yet right now we are seeing massive movements pop up all around the country to bring about justice. Right now, the one that is catching the most attention is the movements by young students pertaining to gun legislation. I kept wondering why the Florida shooting was any different than previous mass shootings. It has been over a week and we are still talking about it which is a change in how we have handled previous mass shootings. And I have to say that this change is because of the brave high school students who have refused to be silent and have spoken out. They have engaged the nation in a difficult conversation surrounding gun legislation and school safety. They have engaged legislators. They have engaged the president. They have engaged just about everyone possible because they know this conversation is an important one. I am certainly impressed and inspired by these young folks to engage in such difficult discussions but it is necessary because this violence must come to an end. But these students can’t do this work on their own. They need each of us to engage in the difficult dialogue that is at the forefront of their movement. They need each of us to join the movement and make our voices heard so that not one more school shooting happens in this country. They need all of us. They need those of us who are older, in between, and young. They don’t need you sitting in your rocking chair saying the next generation will take over, absolutely not, they need you to back them, to guide them, and to grant them wisdom. We are the body of Christ and we are called in our baptismal covenant to work for justice and peace throughout the world and you don’t age out of that baptismal call! Whether you are 15 or 95 or anywhere in between I would hope that you can continue to engage in difficult conversations and acts of justice that bring our world closer to the reality of the kin-dom of God because God is not done with you yet. So I urge you not to sit in your rocking chair or your couch and be done but rather continue to work with the young folks and the middle aged folks and the old folks to bring about justice in this world. Justice that is proclaimed in the gospels. Justice that God calls us forth to seek each and everyday. Justice for a world that is despairing because we need. We have a platform to preach and teach about it. We, as Christians, are called forth to do this hard hard work of being justice seekers and to bear the love of Christ to each person. So let us all come together to work for this justice. Let it be written upon our hearts that we are people who seek justice no matter our age because God is never done with you. Amen.
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1 Lent B - February 18, 2018