“I am a pretty funny person, but I can’t pull the comedy out of me today,” said the Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis at the Tuesday morning worship service. “I was on a phone call with other pastors and religious leaders (on Monday night) about the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ that is now out of the Senate. There are conversations and lobbying going on to adjust it in the House before July 4.”
Lewis was awake all Monday night thinking about how to preach the sermon she had planned, but not lose herself. “I am upset about this bill. Why is it a privilege for young people to eat or old people to have healthcare? Those who believe in love, because God is love, who believe in justice, need to use their hands, not sit on them.”
She preached at the 9:15 a.m. Tuesday morning worship service in the Amphitheater. The publicized title for the sermon was “When the Trees Clap their Hands,” and the scripture reading was Isaiah 55:1–3a, 6–12. Isaiah said come to the waters all who need bread, milk and wine but have no money; come home those who have been exiled from their homeland when the temple was destroyed.
The problem for those returning was their land had been sold to those who had not been deported, so those people had the best land and houses. Isaiah was writing to all those who were coming home to nothing in order to give them hope that God would give them what they needed and they would not have to pay.
“Just like the rain and snow water the land before they return to the sky, God’s word will not return empty. God will accomplish what God intended to accomplish,” Lewis said. “The exiles will come home to plenty, there will be restoration, they will get wine and bread and milk for free because that is what God intended.”
In the United States, we are expected to earn what we need to buy a house, to save, to eat, Lewis told the congregation. Her parents taught their six children to get good grades, go to college, get a scholarship, save and buy a house.
“The American way is go and get what you need, so you can have it. I was taught to go and get and to tithe,” she said. “This text says that those who haven’t brought back first fruits will get bread anyway, and they will get it for free.”
She asked the congregation, why do they deserve free bread, milk, eggs, gasoline, free anything? “In this nation we work hard and tithe, but the text is challenging how we do things in America. What God said will happen, will happen.”
Lewis continued, “This is the word of God versus the word of — I have to think of a word I can say out loud. The actions of our representatives to pass the 940-page bill, to pass the tax cuts POTUS wants, they matter, and it matters that those actions do not fall on deaf ears.”
The word of God is that there is enough bread, milk and wine, versus the words of those who say no to SNAP benefits. There will be billions spent to give $12,000 more to the rich and will take $1,600 out of the mouths of the poor, she said. She urged the congregation to look at the Congressional Budget Office report to see how Americans will be affected.
“This bill is big, but it is not beautiful. It will affect the elders, which includes all of you,” she said as the congregation laughed. “I hope we are friends now, so I can tell you that. When we don’t have milk, then all the prices go up. When we spend billions to export or exile millions of immigrants a year, the safety net will implode.”
She continued, “You should be worried about you, and you should be worried about us. We are not paying attention. This bill means a little more for me, but it means no summer camps, no food supplements. The word of God says, ‘What?’ God says there should be free milk, wine and bread, but others say no.”
There will be people who suffer if they can’t get an abortion, if they are gay or transgender or in a biracial marriage, Lewis told the congregation. “These policies are not loving or just; they are capitalism on steroids. People will be starving.”
She continued, “And yes, I preach like this at home, not from a page. I was soft earlier in the week because I wanted you to come back and listen. But last night, I couldn’t stop thinking about the children and old people who will suffer so others will be a little richer.”
God wants a world where everyone flourishes, Lewis said, where people help neighbors. “If you can’t be upset, be curious, and go to the CBO report, and then read Isaiah 55. Do we want love and justice or do we want that (what is in the CBO report)? Will we worship God or this (the ‘big, ugly bill’). I am choosing Isaiah, and I hope you are, too.” There was applause, and many in the congregation stood.
The Rev. George Wirth, associate with the Department of Religion, presided. Willie LaFavor, chimemaster for Chautauqua and a member of the Motet Choir and Motet Consort, read the scripture. Owen Reyda, organ scholar, performed “Scherzetto,” by Louis Vierne, for the prelude. The Motet Choir, under the direction of Joshua Stafford, director of sacred music and the Jared Jacobsen Chair for the Organist, sang “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,” music by Sondra K. Tucker and words by Horatius Bonar. The choir was accompanied on the Massey Memorial Organ by Reyda and on the oboe by Rebecca Scarnati. Stafford performed “Carillon,” by Louis Vierne, on the Massey Organ. Support for this week’s chaplaincy and preaching is supported by the Edmond E. Robb-Walter C. Shaw Fund.
