“Good Neighbors”

“Good Neighbors”


Date: November 20, 2016

1
Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church
Asheville, North Carolina
20
November
2016
Sermon:
Good Neighbors
Samantha Gonzalez
Block
Luke 23:
33
43
Jeremiah
23:1
6
Lucy and Ethel were good neighbors
.
As many of you know, this sweet pair was featured on the “I Love Lucy”
television
show back in
1950’s.
It was
ground
breaking
for its time
the first
to feature a marriage between a Caucasian
American and Cuban immigrant, and the first
to
ever
t
o show a pregnant woman on
screen.
Back when it first aired
, Americans of all strips, religions
,
and backgrounds would tune in
each
week
.
Its popularity was so vast
in fact
, that
folks
could
simply ask
, “Did you catch “the show”
last night?” and everyone would know exactly what they were
talking
about
.
One of the
most compelling
aspects of
the show
Lucy and Ethel’s hilar
ious, close
knit
relationship. Lucy always finds herself getting into trouble, and Et
hel always finds herself
caught
up in her best friend’s schemes.
On one episode, Lucy is afraid that she has dropped her wedding ring in a bucket of cement,
whic
h was used by their husbands to construct a new brick barbeque.
So, in the middle of the
night she begs Ethel to help her secretly take
apart
the finished barbeque
, search for her ring
within the
thick
cement, and quickly plop the barbeque back together ag
ain.
In the course of this tedious evening, Lucy turns to Ethel and says with sincere gratitude, “It’s
time like these you know what friends are for.” Ethel
looks up and
responds
, “If I would have
known this is what friends are for, I would have signed
up as an enemy.
” A
nd then
she
of course,
continues busily searching alongside her buddy, Lucy.
~
It’s never easy to be good neighbors
.
On this Sunday
morning
, with thanksgiving
right
around the corner,
I imagine that
many
of us
here
are preparing to share me
als with
a few
re
latives or friends with
whom we
might have a long
list of
disagreement
s
.
We might be trying to
figure out how we are
going
to
gracefully
tip
toe around certain conversations
,
or navigate how to
boldly
approach
them head
on.
2
With an elect
ion season behind us that felt so
polarizing
and
focused on
“winning and losing”
,
this holiday
,
we might be wondering how to bridge the gaps between us
,
and enter into more
honest conversations with our family,
our
church community, o
r o
ur literal next
doo
r neighbors.
Everything
still
feels
so raw
and
un
clear
. S
urely
we want to know how to
prepare a way forward
together
and what that
will
even look like
.
Now,
J
eremiah was no family
counselor
or
lif
e
coach, but his
words feel essentia
l for us to hear
tod
ay:
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the
L
ORD
. It
is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away
.
The Book of Jeremiah was written in a time when the rivers of division were wide and well.
After y
ears of bloody battles, and power
hungry rulers, the Jewish people were scattered about.
And so, t
he prophet Jeremiah
is professing
God’s desire to reunify the people of Israel (in the
north) and their neighbors in Judah (in the south).
He calls for both
groups to repent, to come
together, to let go of the past and start working hand
in
hand. God calls for kings and leaders to
no longer abuse their authority, but use it for the purpose of healing and mending these broken
relationships.
Jeremiah’s tone in
today’s passage is harsh and candid, it is
not
God who has done the scattering,
It is you”
he says on behalf of the Lord.
It is you [
the shepherds]
who have scattered my flock,
and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them.”
His words
paint a picture of a
God who is deeply dissatisfied with those who have the power to affect positive change, a God
who is invested in her precious people
,
who are now lost and troubled.
Now
,
we know i
t is
human nature
(since way back in the Garden of Ede
n)
to
place blame on
God, or
on
someone
else
;
but Jeremiah reminds us
,
that we must look
carefully
at ourselves.
In this passage today,
God isn’t speaking solely to kings, solely to those who bear the title of
ruler, or governor, or pr
esident.
God is spea
king to us
c
alling
us
reminding us that we
are
the
shepherds who have scattered the flock, who have forgotten to go out and search for the ones
who are alone
and
aching.
We have become far too complacent, too preoccupied, too lost in
ours
elves. We have allowed these great divides between us to grow wi
der,
separating our stories
and our bodies
from the rest of Christ’s holy and fraught community.
Now,
I
always shy away from
a good
ole
fire and brimstone
sermon
,
but I think it’s important
that
we
deal with this together.
We must
take to heart that alt
hough we might feel we are
doing
all
we can
do
, God is
assuring
us
that are capable and called to
so much
more.
What would it look to construct new bridges between
our n
eighbors, strangers, a
nd enemies
?
What would it look like to really stand in
solidarity with the powerless,
to negotiate with the
powerful,
t
o listen with humility
,
t
o speak with new
found courage,
t
o welcome in the lost,
to
pray
constantly
with ever
hopeful hearts?
Frien
ds, Jeremiah’s words are a merciful reminder that w
e have
been struggling, scattering,
separating
ourselves
since the beginning of time.
We need
to hear his
words again and again
because
we need to find a
way to
fully
trust in
what
connects us all together
.
We m
ust remember
to whom we belong,
to whom we answer to.
Our faith teaches that we
are called to
follow the

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