July 6, 2025: Abandoning All that is Not Love

Lisa Wiens Heinsohn

Abandoning All that Is Not Love

Homily by Lisa Wiens Heinsohn given for the people of St. John’s Episcopal Church

The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, July 6, 2025

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20; 2 Kings 5:1-14; Galatians 6:7-16

Today’s gospel reading is one of the most under-known and under-appreciated great stories of the gospels. In it Jesus sends seventy disciples out in pairs to the towns where he intends to go, asking the disciples to receive the hospitality of those who welcome them, to heal the sick, and to proclaim that the reign of God has come near to them. This comes one chapter after Jesus does the same thing with the twelve disciples, sending them out in pairs to proclaim the reign of God and to heal. And in both cases, they do. In both cases, Jesus instructs them not to waste time with people who will not welcome them; to shake the dust off their feet, almost as if they are saying, `I will take nothing from you at all, not even the earth that clings to my sandals as I walk through your town.’ The one thing Jesus instructs them to do in every place—for those who welcome them and those who don’t—is to say, the reign of God has come near to you. The clear markers of the reign of God are that the disciples come not in a posture of power over, but of healing and poverty and peace, pointing always to the reign of God.

In our Richard Rohr “Universal Christ” book group last week, we discussed a section called “The Great Comma” which points out that the Nicene Creed and the Apostle’s Creed both only have a comma separating Jesus’ birth from his death, instead of describing the many wonderful things he did and taught during his life. Rohr’s point is that this is a substantial omission that distorts the meaning of Jesus for those of us who still seek to follow him twenty centuries later. This story from Luke’s gospel is incredibly significant, but ironically it is even less emphasized in Christian tradition than Jesus’ life and teachings. In this passage, we see that Jesus means for his followers to be healers. He means his followers to be constantly pointing to the reign of God. For me this means constantly pointing to a deeper reality that transcends whatever reign seems currently to be ultimate. And for me today, there couldn’t be better or more important news.

Jesus in his life healed the sick indiscriminately, without asking what ethnicity or beliefs or social status people held. In fact he clearly paid attention to people who had no social status, no safety net, which in our nation is a huge group of people that is growing exponentially. And he pointed to what is true, which is that the reign of God begins and ends with love. To be his followers, we need to see and know and say what is true. And on this day, two days after our nation celebrated independence and the birth of the great ideal that all human beings are created equal and should have equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty and happiness, it is important for us to see and say what our faith is about and what it isn’t about. Here in Minnesota, which in some ways seems like the epicenter of events that shake our nation and reveal that we are in fact not special but just like every other place on earth, I’d like to take this opportunity to describe the reign of God.

I have said many times that we must not demonize anyone, and I stand by those words. People are not demons; none of us can be reduced to the worst thing we have ever done; and an endless cancel culture of only calling out wrong can never make room for repentance, forgiveness, change, love and healing. But that does not mean that we can avoid pointing out what is true gospel and what is distortion. Just a few weeks ago, Minnesota Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed by a man who seemed to follow a branch of Christian Nationalism called the New Apostolic Reformation. Christian Nationalism is a contradiction in terms. As Bishop Rob Wright said at the last meeting of the House of Bishops, Christian nationalism is “is a spiritual force that seeks to hijack the identity of Jesus of Nazareth and then possess his Church; fundamentally at odds with the Gospel, but it is presented as harmonious with the Gospel.” Bishop Wright went on to say that Christian nationalism is demonic for three reasons:

• “It is demonic, because it does violence to the trans-national, trans-ethnic vision Jesus inaugurated on Ascension Day.”
• “It is demonic, because it has succumbed to the devil’s last temptation of Jesus – the offer to exchange devil worship for control of worldly kingdoms.”
• “It is demonic, because Christian Nationalism is an apocalyptic call to a shrinking cohort to defend a fading vision of America as a white Christian nation.”

Bishop Wright says, “this movement is theologically illegitimate, and must be called by its proper name: idolatry, blasphemy, and heresy.”

In his sermon at a recent clergy ordination service here in Minnesota, Bishop Scott Mayer brought our attention to two further points Bishop Wright named about the true Christian witness, and I quote:

First, HOW we respond is as important as WHAT we do. [Bishop Wright said,] “To join God in the work of proclaiming good news, restoring sight to the blind, and seeking freedom for captives of all stripes, we need to abandon everything we bring to this THAT IS NOT LOVE. All impulses to smallness, separation, and superiority; all the contempt and malice; all the deceit and fear needs to be abandoned. Darkness cannot purge darkness.

And then [Bishop Wright] says this. . .“A persecutor of the faith today could be a chief apostle tomorrow.” That is Gospel. That is the Good News of undeserved forgiveness, unmerited grace and mercy, and unconditional love – the Good News we have experienced; the Good News we are called to embody and proclaim. [1]

Now if there is ever a moment when, like the disciples in today’s gospel reading, we actually get to see Satan fall from heaven like lightning, it will be very tempting to rejoice that the demonic submits to us. The demonic in its guise as Christian nationalism is horrifying and doing tremendous damage and it would be such good news to see it fall. But Jesus told his disciples, don’t rejoice when the spirits submit to you. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Rejoice that your citizenship is in the reign of God that transcends nationality and every other form of identity politics and whatever news comes out today or tomorrow or next month. Rejoice that your very being rests in belonging to the gospel of love, no matter what happens in and through this nation.

And then go and do the work of one who truly follows Jesus. Bring love to each and every moment of every day. Proclaim the gospel of forgiveness and mercy, healing and justice. Offer healing wherever it is needed from a posture of humility and poverty, not superiority and power. Follow Jesus’ Way of Love.

We do not need to come from a position of despair. Far from it. We belong to a story that is much, much older than the story of Christian Nationalism or the United States or the Doctrine of Discovery or any of the many wrongs committed in the name of Christ. We belong to the story of love manifested in Jesus. We are granted power by the Holy Spirit to embody this love and light in our thoughts, words and deeds. This is truly good news. It is worth thunderous joy. It cannot be squelched, snuffed out or destroyed. In fact, historically speaking, the more it is persecuted the more it grows.

Do not despair. We do not need to give in to hatred or contempt, apathy or the temptation to run away. We can stand in the ground of God’s love, which is stronger than any other force on earth, which offers hope to the hopeless and the possibility of change to the most hardened and violent among our human kin. Be the light of the world, which the darkness can never overcome. Amen.  

[1] See Bishop Scott Mayer, “Ordination Sermon,” accessed July 6, 2025 at https://files.constantcontact.com/b9baf549001/c9be86f3-7752-49b8-9e16-1c7cf97105d1.pdf?rdr=true

10am Service