Second Sunday after Pentecost Proper 5, June 7 2026, St. Martha and Mary, Eagan MN

Second Sunday after Pentecost Proper 5, June 7 2026, St. Martha and Mary, Eagan MN
Genesis 12:1-9, Psalm 33:1-12, Romans 4:13-25, Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

I was in seminary with a lot of Lutherans. Lutherans are funny people, and I think they think Episcopalians are peculiar people. But I digress. My Lutheran classmates, even by the time they got to seminary, already had it in their DNA, that a sermon is structured thusly - tell a story, followed by a three point sermon, tell another story. Simple. I’ve never knowingly written or preached a sermon following that structure, but today I find my self with the three points. So, if you hear nothing else, hear this

Faith is a risk - Mercy is the cost - Blessing is the work

Faith is a risk. Oh my gosh, this story of Abram. Up to this point in Genesis, the whole first twelve chapters is a crazy sweeping story of creation, and turning away from God, and a flood, and confusion, and the pride and arrogance of Babylon. And then, this major transition at chapter 12 when Abram is introduced, and chosen. The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you..” You know the rest. 

We are never told how a refugee from Mesopotamia would even know who the Lord, Yahweh, is, or even why Yahweh would bother with him. There is evidence in Joshua that Abraham and his brother and father and family, gasp, served other gods, that means they worshipped idols, remember, there were lots to choose from. Welcome to the Bible, details are rarely given. So once we meet Abram in Genesis 12, the action moves. “Hi Abram; I’m the God Yahweh. Now, follow me to an unknown place so I can make you the father of a new nation and a source of blessing for everyone else.” 

In this story, Yahweh, God, promises that Abram, who will be Abraham, - an aside - notice how names are changed when transformation happens, Abram to Abraham, Saul to Paul, Simon to Peter - fascinating. God promises that Abraham will be the father of a great nation, as numerous as the stars in the sky or the sand on the shore. 

What we may see happening in this story of Abraham is that each stage of Israel's journey is like a new beginning, a reminder that Israel’s story is bound to, and perhaps fulfilling the purposes of the original creation story. And we also see that faith for Abraham is a tremendous risk, separation from his clan, following an unknown God, and yet Abraham moves in a direction of peril and possibility. Abraham’s yes to God’s call brings forth something entirely new in creation. That faith is risky business.

Remember a time when you moved in a direction of peril and possibility, when you leaned into risky faith, and you received a new name, Brave, Courageous.

Mercy is the cost. Jesus is walking along. Not at the seashore this time, where he called the fishers as followers, but at the city gate. And his only words to the tax collector were “follow me.” Not very different from Abraham’s story really, what does Matthew, the tax collector, really know about this itinerant Jew? And, why does Jesus call Matthew? Matthew is a collaborator with the Empire to oppress his neighbors, maybe even caught up in something too big for himself. Jesus calls him out of all of that to a new way of being, a life of discipleship, and Matthew seems willing to pay the price, the cost of discipleship is high, the cost of mercy may be one’s life.

The Pharisees ask, “Why does your teacher, and now Matthew is one of them, eat with tax collectors and sinners? Tax collectors participate in oppression, sinners are outside the circle of power. And Jesus says, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Jesus is merciful, to follow Jesus means mercy. Sin and mercy are not in opposition. I think in our culture, sacrifice, or self-sacrifice has come to be defined by a kind of righteous martyrdom. But that is not what Jesus is or asks for. Mercy is what the sinner, you and me, offer to one another, oneself, and our neighbor. Mercy is the cost of following Jesus, mercy is the cost of love. Mercy is knowing that every one of us is created in God’s image, and offering to the other that reflection, that knowledge, that reality, of God’s love and grace. Mercy costs our self-righteous smugness, mercy costs our judgement. For some, the cost of mercy is too high, for followers of Jesus, the cost of mercy is priceless.

Blessing is the work. This woman had been suffering from bleeding for twelve years. That would have done all of us in. She’d heard about Jesus, but she knew there were a multitude of reasons  why it would be a bad idea to go into the marketplace and hope against hope that if she could just touch his cloak, she would be healed. She was unclean, not just for a week, not even just after having a baby, but for twelve years. No one would have her in their presence, she should not be near anyone, she should accept her fate and stay isolated and alone, apart from her community. But there she was, in Jesus’ circle of people, and she reached out. She grabs her blessing and then Jesus publicly affirms what she’s done and who she is. Everyone around her also hears that blessing. Everyone in this story is blessed by the presence of Jesus. 

I have been involved in these last few months in so many conversations about how we followers of Jesus make any difference at all in our communities, in our kinship circles, and in our larger civic world. We make a difference by living boldly and courageously. We know that faith is risky business, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Ruth, Naomi, Mary, Elizabeth all show us that faith is risky business, and that God can be trusted. Let us risk boldly for God’s love in our world. 

All of us walk this very messy path of faith, all of us fall on the floor and meet Jesus in the person who helps us up. No matter who we are, or what we have. In the rising up, we are made a new creation, in God’s image, and that alone gives us everything we need to risk mercy for God’s sake, for your sake, for the kindom’s sake. 

Remember God’s blessing, carry God’s blessing with you. Be God’s blessing in your conversations with family, with friends, with those you love and with those you may someday learn to love. That is your work. 

Amen. 

Blessing

May God give you grace not to sell yourself short; grace to risk something big for something good; and grace to remember the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love. And the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you for ever. Amen.