Sunshine Cathedral Sermons

by Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins, Sunshine Cathedral (Dec. 13, 2009)

The Apostle Paul gives gave the Philippians some good advice about how to maintain joy. He says, very simply, Rejoice always…I’ll say it again, Rejoice!

And then he even goes on to say how it is possible to rejoice always. He believes that Christ is near. He’s experienced the nearness of Christ, in his life-changing experience on the road to Damascus. And the idea that there is a benevolent presence with him, near him at all times, perhaps returning in very dramatic ways in the near future, but spiritually present already is something that gives Paul hope and peace and joy.

So Paul says focus on those things that give you hope and peace and joy. Find things to be grateful for, and as you rejoice and express gratitude, peace will guard your hearts. So focus on whatever is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, on anything that is excellent or praiseworthy, and you will experience God more. And to experience the life-giving presence of God is to experience joy.

Paul doesn’t say that everything will work out the way we want. In fact, the literal, physical return of Christ that Paul thought was imminent never happened. Or, maybe it did. The spirit of Christ expressed in story and ritual and memory raised up a movement that Paul called Christ’s body. WE are the physical return of Christ, especially when we choose to express joy and peace and hope and goodwill.

But regardless of what is happening around us, we are in complete control of how we respond to the conditions of life. We can choose optimism, we can go to peace instead of to pieces, we can rejoice always. We can focus on the good that exists and on the good that we would like to exist. And then God’s peace and joy are what we will experience regardless of the situations and circumstances of life.

When I was a child, television brought me a lot of joy. OK, it still does. But I particularly enjoyed Saturday morning television growing up. And the Kroft Saturday morning shows were always my favorite…

Now, whether I was watching Electra woman & Dyna Girl, or Bat Girl, or Wonder Woman, or Wonder Bug, or Isis…the message was always the same. That beyond the simple, daily grind and habits and routines of life, there is a deeper truth…and that truth is that within us there is a hero.

The wise, noble, strong, resilient, generous, compassionate True Self may be hidden, but it is there and be summoned and it can be expressed though us. This true Self, this divine Self is the Child of God that

we are, the Christ within us. We’ve been waiting for it, but maybe rather than waiting for it to show up out there, what we really need to do is wake up to its Reality right here.

Now of course, we were taught that we were wretched sinners, born bad and we had better believe the right things, do the right things, belong to the right group, or not only would there be no cure for our badness but we would be punished for it for all eternity.

Some of us followed the rules…went to confession, had that first communion, got confirmed, avoided meat on Friday, went to the revival service, asked Jesus to save us, spoke in tongues…whatever the rules of our community were. But then we learned, as bad as we were supposed to be…some of us were even worse!

And the prayers and the sacraments and the faithful devotion somehow didn’t’ work on us. If we were ever to find true love, it would be with someone of our own gender, and apparently love and mutual attraction that didn’t involve a Y chromosome or that involved 2 chromosomes nullified every good deed, every act of faith, and every prayer. It sounds ridiculous now, but when we were younger or more vulnerable, that message took root in our psyches. And we are still trying to help people heal from the damage that message did to them.

No wonder we grew up thinking we were irredeemable monsters…and no wonder we experienced difficult relationships and found ourselves in so many conflicts in life. Focusing on the belief that we were bad is bound to attract conditions that seem to validate the belief. If we don’t believe we deserve happiness and love, of course we will subconsciously sabotage our Good when it seems to be getting close.

Denominations worldwide seems to be imploding because difference is SOMETIMES celebrated in SOME places. Unity and tradition are buzz words used to tell gay people to stay quiet, to stay hidden, to stay in the ecclesiastical closet. The Archbishop of Canterbury has actually suggested that same-gender loving bishops should be excluded to protect the “unity” of an institution…an institution that in reality has never been united.

Any group where difference of opinion can’t be found is a cult and it should be exposed, however much they claim to have a lock on orthodoxy.

The Christian church from its earliest moments has been diverse. And even if there ever had been unity, unity at the expense of justice is obscene and if the only way to hold an institution together is to condemn love and validate hate, then God haste the day that the institution falls!

But there was Electra Woman, et al, showing that the ones who dared to be different, the ones who answered the call to be who they were, they were the real gift to humanity. They were the heroes. Thinking about that is something that can bring us joy.

I remember learning as a child that even though it is sometimes hard to be different, it is also special…it is a blessing, and those of us who dare to accept and celebrate who we really are have a wonderful gift, and having that gift, we have it to share.

Paul was different. Jesus was different. The early Jesus movements…there were several…they were different. Being different got them in trouble sometimes…but they dared to follow their own light, and to share their light with the world. They were labeled monsters, but they learned they were heroes. Think about these things.

The gospel reading today says that John the Baptizer said that Jesus was the sort of person who separated the wheat from the tares…the negative thoughts from the positive ones…he had a winnowing fork, so to speak, to help clean out all the mental weeds that might choke our self-esteem and awareness of our sacred value. By tossing out the weeds, leaving only the good, the good is what can then flourish.

It’s another way of saying, focus on whatever is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, on anything that is excellent or praiseworthy, and you will experience God more. And to experience the life-giving presence of God is to experience joy. Focus not on the hateful rhetoric, the scary condition, the disappointing event, the painful loss…acknowledge it, of course, but don’t dwell on it. Focus on your sacred value, your innate goodness, the heroic qualities that are part of you…because we find those, we find hope and peace and joy. And this is the good news! Amen.