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As much as I studied, read, and listened to the voices of different faiths, I realized quickly that although no one person could speak for an entire faith, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to sit down with and get to know a few of these neighbors from traditions I was planning to teach about.
And so I reached out to those whose stories I was telling. I called the synagogue and setup a time to meet with the rabbi. I had coffee with a Catholic priest I had met at an interfaith gathering. And I was invited to visit a mosque in North Vegas to meet with the Imam. Each of these meetings had me feeling nervous beforehand, meeting with strangers to talk about faith stuff is not something I was used to, especially as a little fledging pastor. As I got to the parking lot in an unfamiliar suburb for my first meeting, I felt my nerves acting up. My first meeting was with Imam Fateem and we were meeting at the masjid, the mosque. My anxiety started whirling around in my head. What if I said the wrong thing or did the wrong thing? I wasn’t wearing a headscarf, my hear was bright pink, it was shortly after Easter. Even as I debated turning around as I stumbled trying to figure out the gate and worrying about which door to use, somehow I found the resolve within myself to keep going. This was important to me, not just for the study I was working on, but for me to truly walk the walk of loving my neighbors who are different from me. I finally found a door that wasn’t locked and walked in into what felt very much like a community center, and it appeared as though the place was empty. Mostly lit by the windows, I poked my head around a few corners wondering if somehow I had gotten the wrong day, the wrong time, the wrong place even. And then as I quietly called out, “Hello?” Khadija answered. In her full headscarf and dress, I introduced myself and let her know I was supposed to meeting with the Imam. She laughed and said, “Oh, he’s always late. Can I get you anything?” While we waited, we sat and talked, asking each other questions about school and work and faith life. Shortly a huge group of women and children came through, and Khadija introduced me as “Pastor Megan”, I felt so welcomed in this unknown place. Once the Imam arrived, we sat down and he graciously answered my questions, and then we got to talking shop. Attendance, giving, reaching out, trying to do service in the community. We talked about Jesus, and we talked about Abraham. We talked about God and faith and trying to live out our faith in the world today. We talked about the gate around the building, about the realities of harassment and vandalism and violence they faced. I couldn’t help but think about my own nervousness and fear before hearing Khadija’s voice and laughter, how even as someone resolved to know and love my neighbors I was still guilty of that unconscious bias that creeps up most in regards to those who are different from us. But even through anxiety, through my own biases, the resolve, the strength that God gave me to hear Christ’s calling to know and love our neighbors guided me into new connections and new understanding with our siblings of Abraham. So now whenever I hear our Genesis reading from today, I think of God telling Abram, “Do not be afraid, I am your shield,” and God’s promise to give him more descendants than can be counted in the stars. I think of God’s resolve, God’s promise to Abram, that even in the midst of Abram’s doubts and questions, could not be surrendered. That from Abram, his two sons: Ishmael and Isaac, become fathers to two different traditions. Ishmael is the patriarch for Islam, and Isaac for Judaism. And even when the world resolves to separate, to prejudice, to disconnect us from our siblings and even from our relationship with God, we are all still connected through God’s determination to reconcile all of creation back to God. When Abraham dies in Genesis 25, both brothers come together to bury their father. Sometimes in the midst of all the chaos, heartbreak, and violence in the world, as I work to grow from my own unconscious bias, as I seek to follow Jesus as his disciple in loving my neighbor, I wish we didn’t need so much resolve, so much determination, so much strength sometimes. I wish I had the magic button to stop islamophobia, white supremacy, transantagonism, ableism, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, racism, all of that evil, I wish I had a button that could stop wars and the greed and power-seeking of others. I wish I could give a five-step plan on how to fix it all. I can’t. The synagogue I went to the day after my mosque visit has a gate around its building too, for similar reasons. More and more churches after the shootings in Charleston and Sutherland Springs are talking about security and gating. We see in the Ukraine homes, hospitals, and multiple churches, places thought to be of safety and security destroyed by Russian artillery fire and bombs. Sometimes it’s hard to find the resolve, the determination to not lose heart in this world. Paul says in his letter to the Philippians, “Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.” There is a truth to his words about the earthly parts of this world that focus on destruction, on self-interest, shame, and earthly things. Jesus knows that danger is on the horizon, in our reading today he tells us that he would love nothing more than to gather all the children together under his wing like a mother hen. But he’s got work to do, and the children aren’t ready yet. In the face of threat, brought to him by the Pharisees in our reading today, Jesus says, “Listen, I am too busy to worry about Herod…I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow and on the third day I finish my work.” Even though there is so much going on in the world, in his community, in his own life, Jesus doesn’t focus on the things he can’t do. He knows that he can’t deal with Herod or the Pharisees in this moment, he can’t run, all he can do is resolve to continues God’s determination to gather all of creation, all of the world in a motherly love like a hen and her chicks. And in this resolve, Jesus gets to work renouncing evil and healing those he meets. Jesus is too busy freeing people from their unclean spirits. Jesus is too busy caring for people who are hurting. Jesus is too busy sharing God’s love and care with people to worry about what Herod’s up to or what might come tomorrow. And honestly, I don’t know if there’s a better way to act in the face of such threat in our world: But to renounce hatred. To renounce violence. And move towards healing. Caring for one another, not because we’re the same, but because that’s what we are called to do. We are part of a promise God makes to God’s people. A promise that we believe is brought to us in Jesus. Our mother hen, trying to gather her brood as we run around aimlessly like baby chicks. And Jesus is busy in that three days, because he says, “I must be on my way” to Jerusalem. On his way to the cross. Jesus takes all of the evil, all of the sin, all of the violence and destruction this world can manage to the cross. Cutting a new covenant, a new promise with the world. And on the third day, he finishes his work in his resurrection, bringing forgiveness and love and grace and salvation for the world. For you and for me, for all the broken people and broken places. A promise of hope and strength. So that when we struggle to find our own resolve, when struggle to find our own determination, through Christ’s strength, through God’s determination, we too can stand firm in the Lord, standing firm in the love of Christ for us, the promise of God for the world. So that we can stand firm, and in the face of threat, in the face of hatred, in the face of fear, we too can tell that fox that seeks to divide and instill fear, “Listen, we are too busy.” We’ve got too much to do to let you have power over us. We too can cast out demons. We too can renounce the demons of this world. Islamophobia, white supremacy, transantagonism, ableism, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, racism and anything else that blinds us to God’s promise. None of it has a place here. We too can perform cures today and tomorrow. We too, as baby chicks gathered under Jesus’s wing, can provide healing and care and compassion for those who have been hurt. We too can share love and grace with those we meet, knowing that they are children of God’s promise too. So that whatever we might be going through, whatever the world, our country, or our community might be experiencing, we can find hope and resolve in hearing God’s words to Abram: “Do not be afraid.” Thanks be to God, amen.
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