What? Only Sandals!

Sermon, Sunday, July 4, 2021
The Rev. Suzanne Wagner
6^th Sunday after Pentecost:  Mark 6:1-13, Leviticus 26: 2
“What, Just Sandals?”

And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. – Leviticus 26:12

He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.

He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. Mark 6:1-13

For me, summertime preaching is about the stories of Jesus’ ministries. After a year of telling and reenacting the birth of Jesus, his baptism, the activities leading up to his week of passion, that, and then his death and resurrection, we now have a chance to settle in, relax and hear about his interactions with his friends and disciples. Stories like Jesus stilling the storm, or climbing up a mountain just to talk to folks, or sneaking away on a boat to float across the Sea of Galilee. Or, parable telling, he was a great parable-teller. What’s the kingdom of heaven like???? Good seeds, mustard seeds, baker’s yeast? Then he heals Jairus’ daughter and the very sick woman who hemorrhaged. 

These are the stories I love the most. These are the stories that “I love to tell….[i]”, as the old favorite old hymn reminds us. ‘I love to tell the story, twill be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old story, of Jesus and his love.’  So, today, I’m going to reflect on one of the passages from the Revised Common Lectionary that, this year, features the Gospel of Mark. This is the scripture that Jake read earlier. Of course, I’ll touch on Ginger’s renewal in place scripture but, that is not the focus scripture today.

In Mark’s Gospel Jesus sends out his disciples, two by two into the villages of the great Galilean unknown with just the sandals on their feet, a staff for walking and fighting off menacing jackals and wolves and only one tunic, not the customary two.  Itinerant preachers were to rely on the hospitality of the good people of the village.  Great - if the people like you and what you have to say.  If not, well you’d shake the dust from your sandals (or flip flops as in my case) and find yourself on the dirt path once again. At least your walking apparel would be dust free! 

This entire passage that we read today is rather curious.  Jesus is shunned by his very own people.  He leaves Capernaum, a seaside town at the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee and travels inland to Nazareth, his hometown.  When he gets there the brightly colored ‘welcome home Jesus’ banners aren’t flying so high, in fact they’re not flying at all.  His friends, his old neighbors, maybe even his childhood buddies wonder very loudly, “What’s this?”  What’s Mary’s son - notice no acknowledgement of his dad - doing stating publicly that he can do miracles and that he can heal people?”  “He’s a carpenter, he works with his hands.”  His tanned muscles are quite developed now from carrying the wood and heavy saws. “He can’t possibly be that healer that everyone is talking about.  We knew him back in the day, back when he threw wild parties and drank a beer or two behind the grape press.”

What I think is interesting about this moment is that Jesus’ healing powers wane as he recognizes the people’s skepticism.  He comes to the conclusion that sometimes you just gotta move on. Your ministry, and you as a called servant of God, can flourish better someplace else. And I’ve found that to be true!

It seems that Jesus’ most efficient recourse now is to send his disciples out two by two into uncharted territory. They walked away with authority over unclean spirits….and a pair of sandals. They also went out with a whole lot of faith in their beloved Jesus, and with their witness to the incredible healing and redemptive powers of Jesus the Christ.  “And,” Jesus says, “If they don’t receive you, then just move on down the road to another village.  Shake that ‘holy land’ dust, and there is a lot of that, right off your feet. Waste no time.”  Off they go, performing miracles of healing with heaps of good old-fashioned evangelism against all odds. 

I don’t know what you would do, but if they told me in seminary, that after graduation I was to go to my first pastorate with only a staff, a pair of flip flops, one tunic, not two, well, I would be skeptical about this ministry profession. I like my ‘stuff’, and the abundance of books that I’ve managed to collect throughout the years. Those tchotchkes collected from the places I’ve been. And my stoles, all of them, I could never choose just one to take with me. They are all so beautiful and each one carries a sweet memory for me. But I guess, if that’s what you’re asking Jesus….

So here is where the Renewal in Place lectionary comes in handy, ‘I will walk among you, and I will be your God and you will be my people.[ii] Judi will share with us about Renewal in Place after the sermon. Having this little verse tucked in your heart helps you to remember that it IS all about faith and stepping out sometimes into the unknown with only a pair of sandals and a staff.

Speaking of stories, I’ve got a story for you, a true story that happened long ago. I want to tell you about the place where I usually go each summer for respite, relaxation and a chance to be with my maternal cousins.  And I want you to know about someone very special, who, went out with only a pair of sandals – the Rev. Dr. Norman B. Barr. His legacy, the Camp is on beautiful Lake Geneva in Wisconsin.  I’ve gone out nearly every year for the last 20 years to preach at the sweet little lakeside chapel, Bowman Chapel. 

I first went out to Camp in the mid 1950’s when I was a little kid.  My Uncle Ray, began going to Camp when he was three years old when the camp was new. He’s long gone, of blessed memory.  And Norman B. Barr Camp is celebrating their 112^th anniversary on July 18 this year.  The Camp’s mission is still to provide a Christian summer camp for children from churches, Sunday schools and social institutions and to conduct Christian church services and other religious gatherings for all campers and cottagers. Cottagers are people who maintain a cottage and financially support the Camp throughout the summer months and the campers are disadvantaged children from urban areas of Chicago. 

What makes this place so special is its existence and mission, because it was an outgrowth of Barr’s ministry which began a mere 75 miles away, at a time of gangstah’s and shoot outs, brothels and saloons, robberies and drug sales on the north side of Chicago in an area known as “Little Hell”.

I want to tell you about the story and ministry of Olivet Presbyterian Church in Chicago.  After the devastating fire in 1871 the City of Chicago built barracks to house people whose homes had been destroyed. The barracks were in a neighborhood of Irish, German and Swedish immigrants – the neighborhood was extremely poor. It deteriorated even more so and became a violent and depressed slum.  Unemployment ran at 80% and 35% of the people were undernourished. It’s recorded that, at one point, there were 608 saloons and only 32 churches in the slum.

In the 1880’s, a pastor and a few seminarians from McCormick Theological Seminary braved the conditions and stench of stale alcohol and began Olivet Institute as a Sunday School Mission right in the heart of Little Hell. Talk about being sent out with only a staff and some sandals to uncharted territory! That was Barr and his cohorts. They went out in faith to be a beacon of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a place that sorely needed light. And, in my opinion, they were given powers, just like the disciples, to chase away unclean spirits and do a heap of healing in a very sickly area.

A few years later, 150 faithful people applied to the Chicago Presbytery for church status and in 1890 they became Olivet Presbyterian Church. Their worship services were held at the corner of Vedder and Larrabee Street on the north side of Chicago in a meeting hall above a liquor store known as Whisky Point!   Darn good thing they didn’t name it Whisky Point Presbyterian Church! But that would be a great story to tell!  Their ministry expanded and flourished amid the saloons and rampant crime and they took on so much more than purely Church status.  They began to create social services around 1893 realizing that human beings, in order to sustain themselves and live a decent life, needed the Gospel yes, but also required their basic human needs to be met.

Prior to Dr. Barr’s graduation from McCormick Seminary in 1897, he was asked to be the interim pastor of Olivet and later, after ordination, Dr. Barr became their settled Pastor.  He had a daunting ministry ahead of him, but he faced the challenge with a deep faith, a hunger for justice, high moral standards, ingenuity, creativity, sturdy sandals and chutzpah. He must have had the verse, ‘I will walk among you, and will be your God…tucked in his heart.  During his pastorate the activities of Olivet expanded and their missionary programs broadened.  They established a resettlement house, library, medical dispensary, a playground for children, language classes, and an “Old Peoples” house in 1903.  Dr. Barr was an activist, and possessed a deep faith and vision. 

So, about the camp. Eventually he was asked to speak at a YMCA Camp on Lake Geneva in 1907.  While there he found a parcel of land for sale and envisioned a permanent camp for Olivet Institute, taking their ministry for families and children beyond the confines of Little Hell.  He wanted to make it, in his words, “a little section of heaven on the edge of wicked Chicago in a world that smells of the smoke of the fires of hell”.  That little section of heaven is Norman B. Barr Camp, which is the last vestige of Rev. Barr and Olivet’s history.  Olivet Church and Institute ceased operation in the 1960’s with a good run and many lives transformed. 

This is ministry against all odds! This is going out with just a pair of sandals, and the knowledge that God would be with them; walk with them through the dust, dirt, and flames.  The good people were sent out into the most pernicious conditions of criminal human behavior without much in hand except their faith in the teachings and ways of Jesus.  This is what I call tenacious, Christ centered ministry. Lives were changed and, by the grace of God, children’s lives will continue to be transformed through time spent at the Camp. 

I believe that God, through the example of Jesus, asks us, and prepares us for the ministry that is at hand, on our watch.  We can learn from the example of the disciples who went out two by two with practically nothing in their hands, and evangelized about the wonders and works of Jesus. We can learn from the example of Olivet Presbyterian Church who became a beacon of hope and help to so many people at Whisky Point on the corner of Vedder and Larrabee Streets. 

We have a story, you and I, you as a congregation and you, the ministry team. We began our journey on April 4, Easter, the day of Resurrection. And now, our story is coming to the end of its current chapter and we are turning the page to a new one. Ginger will return this week and be with you on Sunday. Kristie Rubendunst is preaching and both Jake and Ginger will be here. It will be a wonderful homecoming for Ginger and she will be renewed, energetic and excited to greet you.

But, I will not be here, I’m going to go out, once again, fully clothed with only one pair of flip flops on my feet. I’m going to see what ministry there is to see and where I can serve our God of love next.  I want to thank you for your gracious welcome and hospitality. It has been a wonderful three months and I have enjoyed being part of your story, and your journey. I have enjoyed getting to many of you and knowing your narrative. I admire this congregation’s enthusiasm and passion for ministry and the commitment to the Guilford community to being a more just community.

I also want to thank Jake; your humor, energy, inspiring sermons have moved me - and to think we are neighbors down in Milford assures me that it won’t be the last time we meet.   

I want to thank Bill for your creativity and openness to whatever I suggested and for the great preludes and postludes. You played some of my all-time favorites. You know that is when I worship best – the prelude and postlude! I can relax and let the spirit of the music and of God wash all over me.

Judi, your upbeat manner, your smile that is infectious, and your love for faith formation for youth and children is exciting, this church is blessed. And, Penelope, wow! Your knowledge of ‘religious matters’, your institutional insight and your love of the church and God have been so helpful, but more so renewing for me.  Sandy, your commitment to social justice and the prison ministry reaches so many under your leadership.  And it was great to work with Annemarie, Carlo and Mark, thank you.   

And I am grateful to Ginger, and for Ginger, who so long ago came with her only pair of sandals or flip flops to Guilford. She has nurtured and grown a beloved community of Christ followers who thirst for the Word and for justice in this world. She entrusted her ministry to me in her absence and I will be forever grateful.

It was Nick Carter, President Emeritus of Andover Newton Theological School, who once called people who pioneer in local churches, missions, denominations, hospitals and schools “Edgewalkers”[iii].  Edgewalkers are unafraid to take their ministries to the borderlands of people’s lives and world. Rev. Barr was an edgewalker, you, the church planted here in Guilford are edgewalkers all in the cause of Christ.  All you need is a pair of comfortable sandals, because you’ve already got the story to tell! 

Amen.

[i] I Love to Tell the Story, Katherine Hanky 1866, Tune: HANKY, William Fischer, 1869.
[ii] Leviticus 26:12.
[iii] Edgewaker was a termed coined by anonymous source that Nick Carter used. He used it in reference to the Border Crossing Program at Andover Newton Theological School.