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I know. I know. The fox has always gotten a very bad rap, but bear with me. I only realized last Sunday during the Gospel reading and sermon, that it may have been Jesus, himself, who gave this cunning little creature such a negative association. So let's reexamine where all this started.
In Pastor Erik's sermon, we take a look at, not one, but three foxes, starting with King Herod; then a brutal leader in 1930's Germany; then on to a man who is working to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the United States in 2025. We are going to begin with Sunday's Gospel:
Luke 13:31-35
At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him,
“Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
We don't normally present a part of Sunday's sermon in SEEDS, but to this editor and listener from the choir, it resonated very loudly. If you weren't able to be with us on Sunday, there is a link at the bottom of this article to a video of Sunday's worship service. The worship was all a part of a series of experiential sermons that we have been involved in this Lent. (This coming Sunday, we take a look at Catastrophyzing. To some, Pastor Erik Karas' sermon may seem brave or even brazen, but these are extraordinary times in which we are living, and they call for extraordinary measures and thinking outside the box. We are a very progressive. yet traditional Lutheran/Episcopal church. We definitely believe in diversity, equity and inclusion. In order to entice you to join us in person, Sunday at 10:00, or at least satisfy your curiosity by watching the YouTube video at the bottom, here's how Erik's sermon began:
A week or so ago the President gave a speech to a joint session of Congress where he declared that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion had been eliminated from the Federal Government and the country. Recently Target announced that it would no longer support DEI initiatives. In the late 1930’s a photographer took a picture of a large crowd giving the Nazi arm salute in Germany. Two thousand years ago, a group of Pharisees came out to see Jesus to tell him that the king wanted to kill him.
In each of these situations, one group of people tried to get another group of people
To buy into the notion that THEY had complete and total control while the other group of people had absolutely no control… that they had been reduced to helpless victims. Believing that you have absolute control or believing you have absolutely no control are what what the brain pros call “Control Fallacies” and along with other Cognitive Distortions, like the “Shoulding” we talked about last week, the Control Fallacy is another kind of Stinkin’ Thinkin’ that we are giving up for the season of Lent.
They are called “Fallacies” because they aren’t true! The fact that they aren’t true becomes immediately apparent when anyone pushes back on them even slightly. As the president insisted in his speech that DEI had been stamped out of the Federal Government a camera cut to a close up of Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, an African American, Muslim congresswoman. With that one camera shot the president’s attempt to sell us his Control Fallacy was shown to be exactly that… a laughable fallacy....
I came away from Sunday's worship service very uplifted and empowered. And I was surrounded by wonderful, open and loving people. It is so important right now to surround yourself with people with whom you can relate. Please join us this Sunday at 10:00. We can't wait to have you take a look at how we are resisting despair and fear.
Jean Chapin, Seed editor
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