The Reverend Quinn Caldwell shares the story of one of our spiritual ancestors, Samuel Sewall, in his 2014 UCC Lent devotional.

Samuel Sewall was one of the judges who condemned so-called witches to death in Salem in the 1700s. Eventually, he became convinced he’d made a terrible mistake, so he later wrote a public confession and chose to stand in shame before his congregation in Old South Church in Boston while the minister read the letter aloud.

This moment was so important for Boston that it’s immortalized in a State House mural entitled “The Dawn of Tolerance in Massachusetts.” Sewall’s heart was so softened and opened by this pain that he became a leading advocate for the oppressed. He went on to argue publicly for women’s rights and the full personhood of Native Americans, as well as to write the first anti-slavery tract on this soil. (Caldwell, 31)

Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit on them! The UCC has had so many prophets in its long history. There are so many firsts to point to. The first ordained African-American pastor in 1785, first female pastor in 1853, and the first openly gay minister in 1972. We advocated against slavery, for women’s rights, established orphanages and elder care facilities. We founded institutions of higher learning like Harvard and Yale, you may have heard of them, as well as Defiance College and Heidelberg University here in Ohio. And our work isn’t done. We are often the prophetic church, out in front. Going where other churches resist going but will get there in a decade or more.

In January of 2012, I attended a week-long conference on Bowen Family Systems Theory. This is part of the Next Generation Leadership Initiative put on by the Pension Board of the UCC. The idea is that we gather young ministers and train them up in new leadership ways, gather them together. I met so many talented and wonderful colleagues. I made lifelong friends. I am so thankful.

Bowen Family Systems Theory states that you aren’t just an individual, but an individual with a history, a story that you has been given to you by your own family system. This story is not taught but caught in the day-to-day living. I never remember my mom or grandparents sitting me down and teaching me “this is how you love another person. This is how to be in community. This is how to be a friend.” I caught these lessons by watching them live as they did the same with their parents and so on before them. This system is both nuclear as well as generational.

Simply put: Your family is an emotional unit. It is the nature of a family that its members are intensely connected emotionally. What systems training does is have you map out the nature of these relationships to reach a better understanding of self–what your buttons are and why, how to remain connected and in relationship without becoming too dependent or too isolated. My family never sat me down and gave me a lecture and a PowerPoint about hard work, they just worked hard and I learned that lesson through their lives. It’s why your July 4^th Celebrations have that certain brand of hotdog or BBQ sauce, it’s where you learned to communicate with others and how to live in community.

Prophets and prophecy are misunderstood in our day. Often we think it’s predicting the future. We treat it more in the realm of horoscopes and fortune telling than how the bible tells it. The Hebrew word for prophet is Nah-bee means “spokesman.” It comes from a verb signifying “to bubble forth” like a fountain; hence the word means one who announces or pours forth the declarations of God. Prophets are religious intermediaries whose function is to carry messages back and forth between humans and God. Prophets tell about their day and age and what God is saying through the signs. These messages bubble up in specific times and places and people. They point us to where God is now and where we can be. Prophets are annoy because they name the family system. They state how we live and teach us something about ourselves.

Today’s prophet is surprising. It’s Peter. Peter who is loud and the first to speak up and miss the point Jesus is making, it’s Peter who gives an eloquent speech to a bewildered crowd. All are amazed and astonished. Some wonder at the meaning and others tried to write him off as a drunk. Peter tells the words of the Prophet Joel and he speaks that this future prophecy is fulfilled now. Peter learned a new way and knows the message of Christ and preaches it to all people.

As I sat in that room that first year in the Next Generation Leadership Initiative, learning about family systems theory, I was so overcome. My NGLI colleagues and I sat around and told our family stories. Warts and all. These stories of God bubbled up. We prophesized in the camp like Moses. Some were as articulate as Peter. We told stories of where God acted in our lives and where we think we’ll be. The spirit was poured out, and we were shown portents in heaven above and signs on the earth below.

There were stories of transcendence. The feel-good stories that Lifetime Movies are based on. Yet there were stories of blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun to darkness and the moon to blood. Stories of shame. Stories like Samuel Sewall, where we realized we were wrong and how shameful our actions were and now awareness and tolerance dawned upon us.

Over these years, I’ve thought about how Jesus was when he walked among us. He was around the table. He shared stories, and he listened to stories. “Who is this man who meets with sinners and eats with them?!” The religious complained. They called him a drunk. He told really funny stories, unexpected parables. Stories of God’s upside-down world where the last are first and the first are last. Stories where everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, no matter who you are; no matter if you’re saint or sinner, first or last, man, woman, or transgender, of any nation or background, will be saved.

These past two months, I’ve tried to get into as many homes as I could. I let my search committee know that while I was here in the apartment, I wanted to go out to dinner with as many of you as I could. I wanted to gather around the table and tell stories of our lives. Like I did with my friends at the leadership initiative. Like Christ did with his followers. Like we are called to do.

As I have listened, I have heard your stories and stories of the community of Medina. We have a family systems story that we are caught up in. One that you are proud of and tell. We tell stories of the innovation of A.I. Root. How he was a jeweler until he saw a swarm of bees, and his life changed. He used his mind and improved upon hive design. He was in community, keeping up a correspondence with Orville and Wilbur Wright and Helen Keller. His home, factory, and this church were the first to have electricity. Innovation is in our family history! Not just as a denomination and our long storied history, but also here on our corner of the square! A.I. Root plugged in his electric car and left the keys in it, so during service the youth would joy ride around the square. He would come out after service to find that his car wasn’t charged and he had to walk home. I drive a Volt and I have it plugged in here at the church, so I feel a part of your family history already. I keep my car locked though.

We had two new members classes last month. Today we have new family members we are adopting. We learned of the church structure, but something more happened there too. We were the church. We told some of our family system as church and we listened and told a little of our story. And today, we have new friends with their own stories of faith and God; some are bright and cheery and some are dark and bloody and many are a mix of the two.

May we gather together. May we let our stories be made known. May we try to tell our stories, warts and all. And in our sharing of our lives, our sons and daughters shall prophesy, the young shall see visions, the old shall dream dreams, and Christ will be in our midst. This shall be the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.

Don’t get jealous if someone else can tell their story well or if they share it with someone else. Would that all my people were prophets! You are a messenger of God! It is God’s breath that dwells in your lungs, and it is God’s message of love that you carry within you!

Gathering around the table, this simple act. It’s revolutionary. In this act, God’s story bubbles forth from us and into the world. Thanks be to God.