{"id":638794,"date":"2023-06-05T13:13:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T17:13:58","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-07-21T14:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T18:23:08","slug":"shake-off-the-dust-pentecost-5-a-july-2-2023","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/shake-off-the-dust-pentecost-5-a-july-2-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Shake Off the Dust, Proper 8 (A) \u2013 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-green-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-green-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=DFMS8810016702&#038;light=true\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-green-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-green-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>[RCL] Genesis 22:1-14; Psalm 13; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/P5-2023-Cover-FB-1024x536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-288803\" style=\"width:512px;height:268px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anis Mojgani (A-nees Mohj-ga-nee) was born to an African American mother and Iranian father and is the current Oregon Poet Laureate. A two-time National Slam Poetry champion, he performed his poem \u201cShake the Dust\u201d on January 9, 2010, at the Heavy and Light event at the House of Blues in Orlando. You can look up his performance on YouTube to hear it in his own voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The poem is addressed to what Jesus would consider \u201cthe least of these\u201d\u2014people on the margins, people who are brokenhearted, people who need hope. As Mohjgani says in this excerpt,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c&#8230;This is for the benches and the people sitting upon them.<br>This is for the bus drivers driving a million broken hymns<br>And for the men who have to hold down 3 jobs,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSimply to hold up their children.<br>For the nighttime schoolers<br>And for the midnight bike riders trying to fly<br>Shake the dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor the two year-olds who cannot be understood<br>because they speak half English and half God<br>Shake the dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor the girl whose brother is going crazy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor the gym class wall flower<br>And for the 12 year-olds that are afraid of taking public showers<br>For the kid who&#8217;s always late to class because he forgets the combination to his locker<br>For the girl who loves somebody else<br>Shake the dust\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026This is, This is for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMake sure that by the time the fisherman returns<br>You are gone<br>Because just like the days, I burn at both ends<br>And every time I write, every time I open my eyes<br>I am cutting out a part of myself<br>Just to give it to you.<br>So shake the dust and take me with you do<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor none of this, has ever been for me<br>All that pushes and pulls<br>And pushes and pulls<br>Pushes for you<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo grab the world by its clothes pins<br>And shake it out again, and again<br>And jump on top and take it for a spin<br>And when you hop off, shake it again\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026Shaking the dust<br>So when the world knocks at your front door<br>Clutch the knob tightly, and open on up<br>Run forward into its wide spread greeting arms<br>With your hands before you<br>Your fingertips trembling<br>Though they may be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shake the dust. You may have heard this before \u2013 in fact, quite recently, in our lectionary on June 18, at the beginning of the section (we\u2019re at the end now) where Jesus is giving instructions about how the missionary Christians need to behave and what they should bring with them as they go forth into the world. Specifically, Matthew 10:14 says, \u201cIf anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shake the dust. Historically, what this phrase meant was for the traveling Palestinian Jew to shake off the dust of pagan countries before re-entering the holy land. When Jesus tells the disciples, who are going out to spread his Good News to \u201cshake off the dust\u201d when they are not welcome or will not be listened to, the meaning is clear. Whoever welcomes the missionary\u2014whether prophet (a spokesperson for the Risen Lord), righteous person (not a prophet, but someone who has other gifts), or \u201clittle ones\u201d (an ordinary follower of Jesus who is traveling with the others)\u2014welcomes Jesus. And when Jesus is welcomed into a household, it means that the household becomes part of the larger story, a subversive, sacred story of God and the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Christians, we are living from within a particular story and that story shapes the way we live. All participate in the apostolic mission. During the time when the Gospel of Matthew was written, the Matthean community thought Jesus was returning in their lifetime and that belief shaped the immediacy of their actions within the story. They shifted from just the Twelve who were sent from Galilee to expand to both those who were sent\u2014the missionaries\u2014and those who receive\u2014the settled Christians in other towns and lands of Matthew\u2019s church. They work together to spread the Gospel as commissioned at Pentecost \u2013 to the ends of the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus did not return in their lifetime, but the commission still stands. God\u2019s promises to Abraham continue and are placed in the hands of those who are faithful, who in turn become the witnesses of faith in every age, even our age, this age, right now. These promises do not mean that Christians are protected from difficulties; difficulties come in every life and are opportunities for us to respond with faithfulness, living into true freedom in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shake the dust. Shake the dust of oppression, of sexism, of fear, of insecurity, and all the other <em>isms<\/em> and broken places\u2014shake that dust off and leave it to lie behind you as you step over the threshold into the sacred land of promise. As Amy Adams\u2019 character in the film Junebug said, \u201cGod loves you as you are, but that doesn\u2019t mean God wants you to stay that way.\u201d We are both the missionary and the settled church. God\u2019s story holds us and carries us forward. It forms us in baptism and continues to shape us as we respond faithfully to those vows. This grace is transformative and draws us into living with true freedom and not human-created liberation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In modern life, we are faced with all sorts of ways to access liberation. We hear in global politics how this often means that a country\u2019s previous government is taken over by a different type of political enslavement. The same goes for financial freedom when it comes to lines of credit\u2014all is well until you have to pay it back. Or what about in businesses? The freedom to expand your business might cost another person the livelihood of their business. In relationships\u2014romantic, friendships, communal\u2014we often desire particular freedoms that come with a price to someone else. Human-made freedom comes with many strings attached. A former Christian Ethics professor at Sewanee used to say that, as Christians, we are not truly free until the most marginalized of us is free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The perceived freedoms we have often draw us deeper into sin and spiritual death. However, true freedom in Christ brings us into life. N.T. Wright puts it this way: \u201cTrue freedom is not simply the random, directionless life, but the genuine humanness that reflects the image of God.\u201d With this freedom comes responsibility and desire to be in relationship with God, neighbor, and self. True freedom is subversive. We are called into becoming who God created us to be and in doing so, invite others to join us in this counter-cultural narrative. We are drawn into the Paschal mystery within our own life story\u2014the dying and rising of Christ in daily life. This changes us, and as it changes us, it changes the world. We can leave that dust that we have shaken off and open the door to a new and different life,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWith your hands before you<br>Your fingertips trembling<br>Though they may be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This sermon was written by <strong>the Rev. Danae Ashley<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-bbd237b0-a0e6-4145-a855-71944ad84f13\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Sermon-Proper-8A-English.docx\">Word \u2013 Proper 8 (A) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Sermon-Proper-8A-English.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-bbd237b0-a0e6-4145-a855-71944ad84f13\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-0cb15748-d32b-44ff-a095-e6cb604e9f68\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Sermon-Proper-8A-English.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Proper 8 (A) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Sermon-Proper-8A-English.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-0cb15748-d32b-44ff-a095-e6cb604e9f68\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[RCL] Genesis 22:1-14; Psalm 13; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42 Anis Mojgani (A-nees Mohj-ga-nee) was born to an African American mother and Iranian father and is the current Oregon Poet Laureate. A two-time National Slam Poetry champion, he performed his poem \u201cShake the Dust\u201d on January 9, 2010, at the Heavy and Light event at the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,3],"tags":[92],"class_list":["post-638794","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-8a"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":92,"label":"Proper 8A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/638794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/638794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3475317,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/638794\/revisions\/3475317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}