The influences of fear, greed, and power will always be present.  These forces have influenced the most egregious suffering on humanity and the planet itself.  These forces are always at play in politics, even in a perfect democracy like ours...  Sigh... 

     But there is a greater influence that has been and always we will present.  Call it the Spirit, God, our Ground of Being, Higher Power, or simply Love.  This influence has led to more beauty, more freedom, more inclusivity wherever it goes.  This influence is at work no matter who is in charge, even amid horror.  This influence is winning, even though there are times of setbacks usually due to the influence of fear, greed, and power.

     The Jewish people tapped into the greater influence and wrote about their experiences that we can read for ourselves in the Bible.  The Jewish creation myths in the first few chapters of Genesis make this clear: the God moving and working in creation viewed everything as good, and human beings as very good!  This contrasted with other theological perspectives that portrayed “the gods” as beings to be feared, entities that seemed motivated by greed and power just like humans.  This Jewish way of seeing allowed them to move into the world differently.  Yet, just like us, they struggled to welcome and include, limiting the rights of women, orphans, and immigrants, and despising certain other people groups.

     Yet something was at work that influenced these ancestors of our faith into a different way of seeing everything.  I recently saw a Facebook post from the Executive Minister of Evergreen, the region CrossWalk calls home within ABC-USA. It simply states something obvious in the Bible - viewpoints and policies changed, softened over time to become more inclusive, not less.

     Ten to fifteen years after Jesus died, there was a rising Jewish star named Saul who was adamantly opposed to the Jewish sect of Jesus followers.  He was so filled with hatred that he gained authority to hunt them down to arrest them and bring them to “justice” in Jerusalem where he likely hoped some of them would be stoned.  In his view, they were apostate – worthy of the wrath of man mirroring the certain wrath of God to come.  Like many committed Jewish leaders, he had strong opinions about who God loved and who God didn’t.  Non-Jewish people, Samaritans, the uncircumcised, women, people who didn’t conform to dominant sexual identities – these and others were not loved by God as far as Saul was concerned, and therefore he needn’t love them, either.  Apparently, religions themselves – and their adherents – can be overly influenced by fear, greed, and power. Jesus challenged all three of those things, which is why he was killed.  All of that changed for Saul while he was enroute to rustle up some of Jesus’ followers.  He was stopped in his tracks on that road to Damascus by a spiritual experience of a blinding light shining down on him, with a voice self-identifying as Jesus.  Saul was blind in many ways, and it took some time for him to see clearly – maybe for the first time in his life.  Ironically, the once hyper critical legalist became one of the greatest advocates for grace.  Once barely tolerating Gentiles, Saul changed his name to Paul to foster greater trust in them, becoming known as The Apostle to the Gentiles. 

     On one occasion where legalism crept into a new Christian community (fear, greed, and power still loomed), Paul directly spoke into the errant vision that was dividing people and calling into question God’s love for them:

     For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

     And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. – Galatians 3:26-29; 4:6-7 NLT

     This movement of the Spirit toward greater inclusion and love influenced people over and over again.  We now live in a time when we are enjoying the great advances that once seemed impossible.  While it is tragic that we still have a long way to go, let us celebrate how far we’ve come.  There will be setbacks to freedom and inclusion, influenced by fear, greed, and power.  Yet we, as people of faith, join the greater influence of Love that will continue to improve and enhance the world and the people in it – all toward shalom/peace/deep wellbeing for all.

     I want to celebrate the fact that our denomination, American Baptist Churches USA, re-affirmed our commitment to gender equality at their recent Biennial in Puerto Rico.  Rev. Nikita G. McCallister is now the President of ABC-USA until the next Biennial.  That’s awesome. Oh!  And she’s also black – double reason for celebration!  Fear, greed, and power are at play, but the greater influence of Love is winning.

     When I first arrived at CrossWalk, if you were gay, you kept it to yourself, and most likely you did not come to church here.  Now we are known as a safe space for our LGBTQ neighbors!  There will be setbacks in our culture regarding equality, equity, and inclusion due to fear, greed, and power – those forces are real.  But the greater influence is on the side of Love and is winning.

     For many in our country, there is concern about immigration, and a fear that when so many foreigners enter our country, we’re doomed.  I simply don’t see it that way. I have many friends in the community who have come to the United States from south of the border.  Many of these are Executive Directors working to make Napa a stronger, healthy, more vibrant community.  They love their heritage, but they love being in the United States because of the dream it represents.  A more recent person that has become very important to me immigrated to the US at six years old.  Her mother, aunt and uncle, her siblings and cousins all crammed into a two-bedroom apartment to try and make a go of living in the United States.  Her mom and aunt and uncle worked multiple jobs – not just for themselves but so that their kids would have a better life than they would have had in the Philippines.  Diana and her sister graduated from one of the highest ranked public schools in the country in SoCal, and both went on to graduate from college.  She and my son, Noah, met at Pepperdine and remained friends after graduation.  After she returned from teaching in South Korea as a Fulbright scholar for a year, she and Noah reconnected.  One of Diana’s dreams is to use her skills and education to help Filipino immigrants become fully engaged citizens of the United States.  She also hopes to do something to help her community in the Philippines thrive.  Diana is no marauder.  She is a contributor.  While there will always be some who are not well and do not mean well for others, I believe the vast majority of those who come into the US simply see the dream and want a part of it.  The sooner folks who look like me can embrace that – and them – the sooner we can get be rid of the racial divide that persists.  The fear of the unknown other, greed and power are real, powerful forces at work to be sure.  But the greater influence of Love is beckoning us forward to help us become a more perfect Union.  The Spirit invites all the to the table in Love and for the sake of Love.

     We are a people of faith loved into being, loved forward, loved home.  Sometimes the forces of fear, greed, and power will overwhelm us for a moment or season.  But these are not the forces that create life – they destroy it.  We are being called to be co-creators in this life, in this world, in this nation, in this community, in this church, in our relationships, in ourselves, all supported by the Love that will never let us go.