2026-01-20
Brooke Strong
Sermon Text...
Like many of you, the events in this country over the past
couple of weeks have left my emotions in turmoil. My sense
of ennui has left me sitting listless for long periods,
something out of the norm for me. But then I received an
email from Cathy Watterson with a story that offered hope.
I’ll share it with you, hoping it raises your spirits too.
In November 1938, after more than 90 Jews were murdered
and 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to
concentration camps during Kristallnacht, the world
watched in horror but did little. However, Truus Wijsmuller,
a Dutch social worker, jumped into action.
With no official authority, credentials or back-up plan, she
arranged a meeting with Adolf Eichmann, one of history’s
most notorious mass murderers. She demanded the
release of Jewish children and, surprisingly, Eichmann
agreed but did so by offering a deal he thought would
humiliate her: she had five days to get 600 children out.
Although the task seemed impossible, five days after their
meeting, Truus boarded the first Kindertransport with 600
Jewish children, traveling first to the Dutch border, then on
to Britain. She had managed to arrange train and ferry
transportation, find foster families willing to take in the
refugee children, compile documentation for each of them
and coordinate the handovers from parents.
When she returned to Eichmann’s office to arrange
additional transports, the German officer was furious that
she had managed to meet his conditions. Over the next six
years, Truus went on to evacuate nearly 10,000 people,
using unconventional tactics including bribing border guards
and flirting with Nazis to distract them during inspections.
Truus understood that courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s
doing what is right despite that.
This story was one I desperately needed to pull me from my
funk and remind me that we can take action even when
everything in the world seems hopeless. And then I read the
lectionary scriptures for this week.
The reading from Isaiah, usually a prophetic book full of
inspiration, began with “I have labored to no purpose; I have
spent my strength in vain and for nothing.” Those words
sent my right back down my rabbit hole of hopelessness,
ready to get into a cranky, snarky mood . . . but then I kept
reading.
Isaiah reports God goes on to say: “It is too light a thing that
you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a
light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends
of the earth.” All I could do was laugh. Whenever we feel
discouraged and overwhelmed, God reminds us that things
we feel we can’t do are things that God sees as too small!
So, if you are feeling overwhelmed with what is going on
right now, wait until you see what God has in mind for us to
do in response. Think that it is hard to weather this season
of violence and vitriol? Wait to see what God is calling us to
do to stand up for the marginalized this year! This was
brought home in stark terms when I read early this week
that both the Episcopal bishops of New Hampshire and
Minnesota recommended that pastors get their affairs in
order, noting that “It may be that now is no longer the time
for statements, but for us — with our bodies — to stand
between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.”
This statement, while sobering, is the call of our faith. If
you’ve been in my office, you may have seen a sign that
says, “If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big
enough!” I love this sign that I bought a number of years
ago at the National Civil Rights Museum, located in the very
hotel where Martin Luther King was killed in Memphis. The
sign serves as a constant reminder that God knows we can
do big things even when we don’t believe it. By trusting God
and dreaming big, we are able to make a difference in the
world and in people’s lives. This is exactly what I think we
are called to do right now.
Not only was Renee Good killed by ICE agents as part of
the massive operation in Minneapolis, but other stories of
harm continue. And I think that no matter your political point
of view, the reports we hear daily are frightening violations
of both basic human rights and the teachings of the gospel.
Listen to just two examples. Please note that I have
carefully vetted the sources of these stories and share them
from sources more than one media review site calls least
biased.
On the day that Renee Good was shot, Kenny Callahan, a
Metropolitan Community Church pastor in the neighbor-
hood, was heading into the church when he noticed
commotion down the street. Walking down to investigate,
he saw a Hispanic woman surrounded by ICE agents and
asked them to take him instead. An agent asked him if he
was afraid and when he said no, the agent pointed a gun in
his face, handcuffed him, and put him in the back of an
SUV. Reportedly, the agents came back a few minutes later
and asked again if he was afraid yet. When this scene
played out a third time and he continued to say he was
afraid, they responded, “Well, you’re white; you wouldn’t be
any fun anyway.” And they let him go.
Another disturbing incident occurred outside a suburban
school for children with special needs last Monday. At about
7:30 am, 25-year-old teaching assistant Christina Rank was
pulling onto school property when ICE agents surrounded
her car, claiming that she had rammed their vehicle.
Although video shot at the scene does not show what
happened, two colleagues who were present dispute that
report and her mother shares that the damage to Christina’s
car is only on the side, not on the front bumper.
Christina’s car window was smashed and she was pulled
from the car, crying out plaintively, asking “why” the entire
time. Inappropriate language can be heard coming from
men who appear to be both ICE agents and those
supporting the teaching assistant. Christina was held for
twelve hours without being allowed to call anyone and her
mother, trying to learn what had happened to her daughter,
was not given any information. In addition to an aggressive
response without due process, this story raises questions
about why ICE agents were at a school for students with
special needs in the first place.
At a time like this, we need to respond as Martin Luther
King taught, continuing his work to build the Beloved
Community, working to create a vision of a world united by
love, justice and peace, achieved by non-violent action,
dialogue across differences, and dismantling oppressive
systems. King’s teaching is a call to action, both to the inner
work of personal transformation and the outer work of
communal action to dismantle the kind of systemic injustice
we are witnessing directed mostly at immigrants, but also
seeking to sow seeds of fear and intimidation among all
citizens.
I know that for many of us, this feels like a huge ask right
now. We are overwhelmed not only by these stories of
interactions with ICE, but also the headlines surrounding
foreign affairs and even the inappropriate and profane
response of our president to a factory worker earlier this
week. I don’t have the answers, but I do believe that those
of us who trust God have the capacity to be creative and
courageous in seeking solutions. And that, my friends, gives
me hope. A church like this one, full of caring, motivated,
faithful people can make a difference.
As we respond, we must note that language matters.
Regardless of our point of view in any situation, we cannot
rush in headlong, name-calling and making accusations that
escalate every situation. Instead, we must remain faithful to
the teachings of the gospel, even when we are uncertain
how best to proceed.
Perhaps inspiration for our response can come from our
gospel lesson today as we learn of Jesus’ interactions with
his newly-called disciples. When two of them begin
following him, Jesus turns to them and asks, “What are you
looking for?” This question could be expanded to ask,
“What do you long and hope for? What do you need?”
Imagine if, in such a chaotic time as this, we spent time as
individuals and as a church responding to this question and
then committed to listen to what others are seeking as well.
What if we, as a congregation, pledged to working to meet
those deeper needs?
Interestingly, Jesus asks this question and the disciples
respond in a most curious way, with a question of their own:
“Where are you staying?” They want to be around him, to
be in relationship with Jesus.
Jesus’ answer is beautiful in its simplicity: “Come and see!”
He doesn’t offer a long theological treatise or make
demands but simply offers an invitation: come and be in
relationship with me. Come without being judged. Just
come.
What if, as the prophet Isaiah say, we are called to be a
light to the nations, but what if that doesn’t mean we need
to have all the answers? We don’t need to make every word
we utter inspirational, meaningful and transformative. What
if we just need to issue an invitation to come and see?
Come and be a part of God’s incredible world. Come and
let’s figure things out together. Come and listen to each
other.
These scriptures have reminded me – and I hope remind
you also – that God is the one in control, the one who will
shape things and create powerful outcomes. All we need to
do is listen – to God and to one another. So what do you
need? What do you long and hope for? Then come and
see. Come and be a part of this community of faith. Be in
relationship with God through the love and commitment of
those who gather here.
Come and be a light to the nations for God wants to use us
to reach the ends of the earth. Come . . . for together we
can make a difference. Come! Amen.