Earlier this year the movie Black Panther was released to rave reviews and record-breaking box office receipts. The movie is commonly ranked as one of the top superhero films in the Marvel franchise and is third all-time in total box office receipts. It took in 1.3 *billion* dollars worldwide, whoa! On one level it’s just another superhero film, complete with epic battles of good versus evil, stunning CGI and plot twists aplenty.

But there’s more happening in this particular film, a subtext of sorts that tells another tale. Perhaps this subtext helps explain why Black Panther has been so wildly popular with so many.

Competing Ideals
The movie describes a fictional country in Africa called Wakanda. Long ago a meteorite deposited a mystical element there known as vibranium. Vibranium has some pretty cool properties, it can dissolve other metals; the suit Black Panther wears is made of it.

The Wakandans, historically, used vibranium to defend their country. This fictional metallic element makes for good shields and weapons of all types that help protect Wakanda. The metal is also incredibly valuable, keeping Wakandans safe, prosperous, and isolated, by choice, from the rest of the world.

But when the king of Wakanda dies it creates a power vacuum. Three potential leaders rise, each attempting to claim the crown. Each leader has their own ideas of how to guide this land.

The first is M’Baku, leader of one of the Wakandan tribes. M’Baku feels Wakanda has become too involved in international affairs. Instead he desires the country return to isolation, and a cloistered prosperity, solely within its borders.

The second potential leader is Erik Stevens, who goes by the name “Killmonger.” Erik, as his nickname suggests has other aspirations. He’s seen how his people have suffered across the world, and it’s time to right the wrongs of the past. He aspires to do this by conquering other lands, bringing them under his rule.

And then there is T’Challa, who sees the factions in his country, and seeks a third way. Instead of isolating, or conquering, T’Challa wants his people to relate to the world with a new, broader sense of purpose. We’ll talk about what those ways are a bit later, stay tuned.

Scriptural Backstory
I’d suggest that these three ideals, of isolation, of conquering, and this third way are all deeply connected to our human history. And also deeply connected to our scriptures.
Human history is rooted in our tribal identities. Tribes help define social norms, provide a common culture, and give us shared sets of values, shared religions too.

But tribes, by definition, create divisions. And divisions separate us from each other. By human nature we tend to side with our own tribe, whatever that is, at the expense of others.

If we are satisfied with how our tribe is running we may choose to isolate, desiring to keep things as they are.

And if we aren’t satisfied with the status quo we may desire more, to conquer other peoples, other lands.

History is replete with examples of both.

The story of the Israelites in our Old Testament is filled with this tribal narrative. At varying times they lived in isolation, or were the conquerors, or were the conquered. All tribes do this, either satisfied with their holdings or desiring more; the vicious cycle continues.

And at some point God looked down at this pattern, saw that the kids weren’t playing too well in the sandbox known as earth, and formulated this third way, also known as The Way, also known as Jesus Christ.

Christian Identity, Christian Freedom
This message closes out a four-week sermon series, The Freedom of a Christian, which makes for an excellent summary of what the way of Christ represents to our world. In this series we’re reminded that:

Salvation comes to us from God, no matter our earthly tribe. And that happens in the waters of our baptism. It is there we are claimed as a beloved child of our heavenly Father. We then have free will to choose what we do with this incredible gift.

And, no matter what we’ve done, the sins of our past, present, and yes, even our future, they are forgiven. Jesus paid for those sins, once and for all, with his life, death and resurrection. He made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may live. Because of this we are freed from sin, and the damage it causes, no longer shackled with feelings of shame and guilt.

This forgiveness isn’t just for one person or tribe, but for everyone. Galatians 3:28 tells us this, for “there is no longer Jew or Greek, no longer slave or free, no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” For all of you are one.

This news of our identity as God’s own, and our forgiveness through Christ is really, really good news. So good that we are called to tell the story of our shared identity, and the forgiveness we have, with others, no matter their tribe. As a people both saved and forgiven this is our bondage of freedom, to speak these truths so that others may too become unshackled.

During the height of the civil rights movement the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King famously said this: no one is free until we are all free.

Our freedoms, both as citizens and Christians, are connected to each other.

And beyond being freed in our salvation, and freed from sin, and bound to share the news of this freedom with others, by spoken word, we are also freed to serve.

Freed, and Called to Serve
We know we’ve been freed for this because Christ modeled it. Freedom is a funny word, in our era we often understand it as a state of being, and not an imperative for doing.  And we really are talking about doing, service is an action, so let’s change up the language, just a bit, and talk about the imperative of being called to serve.

Matthew 20:28 tells us the “Son of God came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Christ spent much of his ministry crossing social, political and religious boundaries with the express purpose of serving others.
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Unlike some of our Christian brethren from other faith settings Jesus didn’t solely approach people with talk of heaven and hell. Instead he built relationship, saying come, walk with me for a while. Christ entered people’s hell in the here and now. He then showed them what heaven, in the here and now, looks like. And he did this with a life of service to others.

Jesus healed, he fed, he took the lowly task of washing feet – eww yuck, from this particular pastor’s perspective – and it didn’t matter who you were or where you came from.

We commemorate this serving, every week, with a celebration of holy communion. Eating of the bread, and drinking of the cup isn’t just a look back in history to what Christ has done for you. And it isn’t just an individual act where we take Christ into us, becoming one with the divine, as awesome as that imagery is. It is also a look ahead, a call to action, a call to model what Christ has done for us. It’s a call for each of us, to model Christ, in our service to others.

Romans 12:13 implores us to contribute to the needs of the saints and to extend hospitality to strangers. Who are the saints? Let’s look back to Galatians 3, it’s the Jew the Greek, the slave the free, the male the female. And by extension the American and the Mexican. The El Salvadoran, the Guatemalan and the Columbian. The white and the brown. The mother, the father, the infant and the child.

And if we are to extend hospitality to strangers who exactly are these people?

Poet William Butler Yeats says it best:

There are no strangers here;
Only friends you haven’t yet met.

And we are called to extend hospitality to those yet unmet friends.

The Heavenly Ideal
As you might guess in the Black Panther film it is T’Challa, the leader seeking not to isolate or to conquer, that wins out. King T’Challa describes this third way with a closing speech to other world leaders. Here’s a bit of that speech.

We will be sharing our knowledge and resources with the outside world. Wakanda will no longer watch from the shadows.

We cannot. We must not.

We will work to be an example of how we, as brothers and sisters on this earth, should treat each other. Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth.

More connects us than separates us.

But in times of crisis the wise build bridges while the foolish build barriers.

We must find a way, to look after one another, as if we were one, single tribe.

This speech, from a secular, blockbuster superhero movie, is dripping in a Christian ethic.

We Christians are called to be an example, called to model how the brothers and sisters on this earth should treat each other.

We Christians know the truth: that more connects us than separates us. For we are all made in the image of our Creator. We are all children of God. We are all in the one, single tribe of God.

And we Christians must find a way to look after God’s children, and follow Christ’s call to serve. We do it best by healing, feeding, housing, and breaking the chains of bondage that keep some of God’s children down.

Close
Our national headlines of late have been downright dark, haven’t they. Those headlines, and the images they contain, place a mirror in front of us. And the reflection we see looking back right now isn’t too pretty.

But I’m not here to talk politics. That’s not what clergy are called to do. Instead it’s my job to explore with you the very nature of our God. And it’s my role to share the light of Christ with you, and then encourage you to go out and shine that light brightly the world round.

And I’m telling you, from one person of faith to another,
We people of faith are called to more. We are called –

Not to isolate
Not to conquer
Not to separate

But called to serve.  Amen.

Last weekend my daughter and I ran a 5k race together, the Hope Run. That annual event is sponsored by a local hospital, and is connected to area elementary school running clubs too, so there’s lots of kid and parent pairs involved.  And the race helps support local hospice, all in all it’s a really neat concept.

Running is a hobby of mine – I love it – so when our favorite first grader joined the running club, at her elementary school, in Florida last year I was thrilled. The two of us started jogging together soon after, and, with a few weeks of practice with pops she had gone from running a mile all the way up to a 5k distance – that’s a splash over three miles.

Even cooler to me is this: as an 8-year-old, she’s officially a faster runner at this distance than her 43 year-old dad. Which makes for a proud papa, albeit a humbled one ?

Now the two of us hadn’t jogged much in Iowa since we arrived here last August. Between spending time to get settled last Fall, and the ridiculously long, and cold winter we former Floridians somehow survived (#ThanksIowa) suffice to say our energies for a while were directed elsewhere.

But when she came home from school six weeks ago, with a certificate for a free entry in this race, a reward earned from running club, I knew it was time for us to enter another race together. And time for us to hit the road to practice up for that race.

Practice
Our first jog together this Spring started a little later in the morning than usual. I’d slept in that Saturday, and by the time I got downstairs and asked her to get ready for the jog it was approaching 9:30 in the morning. And temps were already approaching the mid-80s. Now I don’t normally bring a water bottle when jogging this distance, tho my daughter likes to have one. In our haste to hit the road I totally forgot to bring it.

You can likely imagine what happened next. With the late start, and high temps still rising, and no water to cool down, she let me know, fairly quickly, how she felt. Hot, tired, thirsty. And not exactly having fun.

We got through that run, the two of us, but it wasn’t pretty. And as a parent I realized I’d really screwed this one up. I should have planned our jog together much, much better.

Our second run a few days later was entirely different. We started at 6:30 in the morning, three hours earlier, and temps were a good 15 degrees cooler. And this time I remembered to bring the ice water. Even more we took the time to plan where we’d break to enjoy that water.

And her affect during this second jog? It was entirely different. She smiled, she joked, she seemed relaxed, clearly enjoying the experience. She didn’t get winded or too hot either. When we stopped mid-way for our water break she took a good long swig of the ice water, let out a deep Ahhhhhhh, and exclaimed, “heavenly water!” “Heavenly water!”

She couldn’t have been happier. I knew, in that moment, that all of her earthly needs had been met. So much so it felt, well, downright divine. This time perhaps I’d done a better job at parenting.

Earthly Needs
The text from Matthew 6 is a story about a different Father, a much better Father, a God the Father. And unlike this earthly father here, God has a much better track record when it comes to caring for his children.
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In the text we’re reminded simply not to worry.

Do not worry about your life. Don’t worry about what you’ll eat, or drink, or your body, or what you’ll wear. Instead we’re asked to strive for the kingdom of God, and focus on that. And when we do? All these other things will be given to us as well.

It is this look into the nature of God that I find really, really comforting.

As an earthly father I find myself torn at times. Torn between going with what *I’d* like versus making sure my kid’s needs get met. I enjoyed sleeping in that Saturday morning, for sure. But while I slept in it got hot, and that made for a tougher jog. Even worse I defaulted to *my* preference, of not bringing a water bottle, and completely forgot that  our daughter really appreciates having one.

Parenting, at best, often seems like a series of trial and error. I seriously screwed up with that late, hot, waterless run. Your father is sorry kiddo. And your father will remember to plan better whenever we run again. That’s a promise.

Heavenly Care
I think God the Father is more like that second run that we did.

God never sleeps in at the expense of the kids. Instead God checks the temperature before we head out. And God jogs alongside us, throughout life, with us every step of the way.

God doesn’t forget our earthly needs. Things like food, and clothing, and yes, certainly water. God here too, always has our back.

And God doesn’t fail to plan. Instead God has marked out a path for us well in advance. God knows when we need a break. God encourages us to rest, to replenish, to celebrate the Sabbath.

Close
As was then 2,000 years ago is still true now: as a people we love to worry. The next time you feel the urge to worry I invite you to consider this Matthew text.  Instead of spending all that effort worrying, strive first for the kingdom of God. For when you do you’ll find yourself jogging alongside your Creator, stride by stride, with a much lighter burden than you currently carry. And all those earthly needs you normally worry on? They’ll be met. And the result will be downright heavenly. Amen.

As I wake this morning and look forward to celebrating Father’s Day, a day often marked by gifts like breakfast in bed, power tools, handmade cards from little hands, golf outings and phone calls home, it’s difficult not to be reminded of the growing humanitarian crisis happening at our border.

As a father we want what is best for our children. From working hard to making sure our kids have enough to eat to ensuring they have a roof over their head, caring for our children, in ways great and small, is what we’re called to do. My family recently moved from Florida to Iowa, and I’m reminded of the many criteria my wife and I used to make that decision. Will our kids get a quality education? What is the crime rate in the area? Will they have access to caring community through societal staples like church, summer camps and Girl Scouts?

And yet these are luxuries compared to the horrors many families now face when they choose to head north seeking asylum in our land.

As a pastor I find our government’s recent use of sacred Christian scripture to justify human rights abuses appalling. As a people of faith we are called to welcome the stranger. And called to love our neighbor as ourselves. And whatever you do to the least of these? You know, like separating kids from loving parents? You have done to me, Christ says.

As a citizen I find this deepening crisis deeply disturbing. At one point in our nation’s history we celebrated an ideal that invited the tired, the poor, the huddled masses to our land. That ideal is now gone, replaced with policies that not only deny those same people but then separates them, tearing father and mother from son and daughter.

Our nation likes to lift up a shared love of God and country. As a Christian clergy let me implore you to prioritize the former. Our faith tradition is steeped in examples of people that found themselves on the other side of the law of their land for just cause.

Jesus spoke out against societal and religious injustice all the way to the cross. The apostle Paul, author of much of the New Testament, wrote many of those texts from behind bars for living out his call. Many German pastors were vocal about the atrocities of World War II; some were imprisoned, others killed. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, who challenged our notion of the American dream with his own, often found himself behind bars for speaking truth to power, and ultimately paid a far greater price.

Perhaps the time has come again to do similar.

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As a parent, and a person of faith, I ask you to act on behalf of these families, made in the image of God, and called good by design, just as much as you and I.

Speak out to the leaders of our land. Let them know this is not ok.

Write to your elected officials.  Tell of the pain this causes to you and so many.

Organize, walk, and march.  Make sure your voice echoes what good, Christian family values really look like.

While I pray your actions aren’t met with violence or incarceration know your voice won’t be welcomed by all. And that’s ok. But creating light from darkness, hope from despair and bringing life out of places of death is what we Christians do.

May the Holy Spirit nudge you to now go out, and do the same.