The Dangerous Comfort of Showing Up

What happens when the promises of progress turn into frustration? When the institutions we've trusted prove unfaithful? Drawing on MLK's lesser-known "three evils" speech and the ancient prophet Jeremiah, this sermon explores what it means to be faithful when everything you've taken for granted is crumbling. It's about surviving Saturday—that disorienting space between disaster and restoration. The core message is simple but uncomfortable: we've mistaken proximity for participation. We say "I go to church" the same way people once chanted "this is the temple of the Lord"—as if showing up could substitute for the harder work of actually listening and changing. Jeremiah's indictment was clear: the people had done everything except the one thing that mattered. They performed religion while ignoring its substance. The invitation is to become "creatively maladjusted" in a world where deceptive words are everywhere. To stop being passive recipients and start actively making meaning. To ask yourself: where, when, and how will you actually listen?