L: Amidst the storms in our life, may we hear God saying to us:
P: “Peace! Be Still!”
L: Among our fears and anxieties, may we hear God asking us:
P: “Why are you afraid?”
L: In this time of worship this morning, may we be filled with awe.
P: Let us worship our God, the one who calms the winds and our fears.
All: Amen.
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Monday, June 10, 2024
"Believing, Speaking, Extending" a sermon on 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
“Believing, Speaking, Extending”
Preached Sunday, June 9, 2024
“Believing, Speaking, Extending”
Preached Sunday, June 9, 2024
This last week I joked with many of you that if my sermon was a little shorter than usual…it’s because I spent too much time talking to our Trash and Treasure volunteers instead of writing my sermon! But really, I am an extrovert and that’s one of my greatest joys as a pastor: being able to connect and be in relationship with my congregation, with my community. And when I sat down to write this sermon, I realized how important staying connected to his congregations, to his communities, how important it was for the Apostle Paul as well.
Our reading from 2 Corinthians today is Paul doing just that - although it could have been under happier circumstances. This is actually the third letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians, the second letter which he said was “written in tears” is lost to us but it’s evident that the Christians in Corinth were having significant disagreements and issues. In this letter and our text from today, he is urging them towards perseverance in the face of persecution and ultimately reconciliation with him and one another.
One of the rich things about Scripture, however, is the multiple layers of meaning. I always say there are at least two layers - at least - to all Scripture. What the author of the Scripture was saying to the original community and how God is speaking through that same text to us today. So while Paul may have had a specific intention of speaking of perseverance and reconciliation as he wrote, when I read this letter with the people of Boardman United Methodist Church in my mind, rather than the people of the Church of Corinth, what I hear God saying to me and to us in the pews today is a message of encouragement of how we live out our faith - our faith in the God of Love who was Resurrected.
The encouragement is simply this:
Believe in the God of Love who was Resurrected.
Speak of the Love you experience through our Resurrected Lord.
And extend that Love and Grace to all.
Believe. Speak. Extend. Resurrection & Love.
Let’s look at this a little more closely.
Our reading from Paul starts with him quoting the Psalms: “I believe and so I spoke.” Paul adds, “we also believe, and so we speak.” The Psalmist is talking about keeping faith and praising God even among trials and tribulations. Paul too is alluding to this. And yet I wondered - before we even get to the speaking part - what is it that we believe? What is it to have faith?
Paul answers this in the very next verse: “because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence.” What we believe is simply this: Jesus who was and is Lord was raised from the dead and God has plans to share that Resurrection with us, and pull us all into God’s loving and living presence.
And yet, I want to spend a little bit of time talking about what it means to believe this morning. Just six verses after our reading from today ends, Paul says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” But I believe our current culture is often uncomfortable with the ambiguity of faith and thus many Christians and Churches have compiled a check-list of Christian beliefs and you have to tick every box or you’re not considered “one of us” - for some this is strongly implied and yet still others may have explicit Affirmations or Creeds and you have to sign on the bottom line in order to be a part of the community.
Now, don’t get me wrong - I think creeds are very important. I myself hold to the Nicene and Apostles Creeds - which if you aren’t familiar with can be found on page 800 - 802 of our United Methodist Hymnal. And United Methodists do have Articles of Religion that hold the official views of the Church and we have our own distinct Wesleyan theology…
And…not but…and… Faith is so much more than mentally believing what someone tells you to believe. Faith is much more than checking boxes - Belief in the Trinity? Check. Belief in the Divine and Human Nature of Christ? Check. Belief in the Virgin Birth? Check…. Etc, etc. Individuals are going to have different experiences, different thought processes and different qualms about various beliefs or tenets of faith. There are also essential and non-essential aspects of faith and different churches, sects, and individuals won’t always agree where the line is between these things. I tend to take a broad picture approach, as John Wesley, the founder of Methodism said, “Though we may not think alike, may we not love alike.” I’m not saying that what we believe as Christians is a free-for-all, what I am saying is that I don’t think we should assume that faith as Christians is monolithic and that we shouldn’t assume that everyone in the pews is in the same place.
Two years ago, acclaimed Christian author Brian McLaren wrote a book entitled, “Do I Stay Christian?” He lists the theological, ethical, and even moral objections many in our world today have surrounding Christianity…and the acts of Christians. He looks at a history of anti-Semitism, of Christian violence, of Colonialism…and so much more. He spends the first half of the book answering all the reasons one could or should walk away from the Christian faith. In the second half of the book he attempts to answer all the reasons one should stay Christian, to hold fast to one’s faith, and not throw in the towel on our religion. In a world today where there is increasing backlash toward the actions of Christians that don’t match Christ’s commands to love God and neighbor as self, I understand what McLaren was trying to attempt in the book. But here’s my problem with it - his arguments are all in the head. Pointing to facts, statistics, history, reasoning… and that’s not what faith is about for me. I read the book and I have stayed Christian…not because of any logical argument put forth but because I have experienced something greater than myself. My faith is not based in my brain but in my heart that was strangely warmed when I realized that God loved me, yes, even me! My faith is not logical - my faith is felt in my body and my soul. God has acted in my life in ways I can’t explain and ways that even with my degree in theology I sometimes struggle to put words to.
When I am talking about faith today…I am talking about an experience of Life and Love that has grabbed hold of you and you can’t let it go. Faith is the life-long journey of experiencing God’s Love in this world, experiencing the the power of the Resurrection - that is Life in the face of death, Hope in the face of despair, Love in the face of hate, Peace in the face of violence…experiencing the Holy Spirit at work in our world, lives, and hearts…and then faith is the life-long journey of finding the words that help us make some sense out of God’s Goodness towards us. This is something we do as individuals and as a community. We read the Bible. We talk about theology. We listen to sermons. We worship. We try to give our experiences of the Divine shape in all our words and our actions.
Many of us might be here today because we share a set of theological beliefs that we could go down a checklist together on. But I think most of us find ourselves in the pews because we have experienced God at work in our world, our lives, our hearts. We are here because we are a people of faith - faith that is not always logical, but faith we have experienced.
So that’s belief, that’s faith… and Paul says “‘I believed, and so I spoke’ --we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence.”
I already said that when we experience God’s Life and Love, the power of the Resurrection, we can spend the rest of our lives making sense of it, putting words to it, understanding it. And yet that shouldn’t stop us from speaking about it. I think a lot of Christians are hesitant in speaking about their faith because they are still thinking of their faith as a checklist of doctrine that there is some sort of “pressure” that you have to get it all right. We don’t speak about our faith because what if someone asks one of the hard questions that we don’t have an answer to? Or one of the hard questions that there simply isn’t an answer to? Or what if we speak about our faith and the person isn’t open to it or even downright hostile?
There is a quote that is often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi that is “Preach the Gospel always and, when necessary, use words.” We start speaking about our faith by living out our faith. If we believe in Jesus because we have experienced Life, Hope, Love, Light, Peace, God’s Goodness…then our lives should reflect that. Speaking about our faith first requires an examination of our actions (and words). Is all we are saying and doing consistent with the Gospel of Love? If not, then our words will be meaningless to those who hear them but see our actions that speak louder than our words. I’m not saying we have to be perfect in order to share our faith - if that were the case I certainly wouldn’t be in this pulpit this morning or any Sunday. What I am saying is that Love should be our ethic for all we say and do - our actions and words. And when we get it wrong, we try and try again, getting closer to perfect love of God and love of neighbor every day.
Now that quote that’s attributed to St. Francis - it says “use words when necessary.” I have found that many Christians use that as an excuse to not use their words. But friends, in our world, when so many don’t know the Love of Christ, it is necessary. Again. You don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t have to have a checklist of doctrine. All you have to do is talk about your experience. 1 Peter says we should always be ready to give an answer for the reason of the hope that is within us. When we speak about our faith we should never start from a place of convincing someone that we are right and they are wrong. It should never be from a place of standing your ground or picking a fight. It should always be coming from a place of Love - and starting from your own experiences of faith - of Life and Love. Talk about your experiences - and be open to hear about the experiences of others, including those who do not believe and who have not yet experienced the Love of Christ in their lives in a way they can point to it and name it for what it is. They may have even been hurt by those claiming to be acting out of Christian love. Again, our faith doesn’t need you as a defender of it - Christ can handle that. What our faith does require of us - is speaking with words and actions - including actions of listening - that reflect the Life and Love we have experienced.
This takes practice as well. We will all take our whole lives working on getting better at it - that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. And yet we have to take those first steps and let our actions and words speak to our faith.
And lastly, in our reading today Paul says: “so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”
As we experience God’s love. As we speak into that experience with our words and actions. Be prepared for the circle to widen. For God to give you opportunities to share your experience and God’s love with more and more people. With unexpected people. With people who are different from you. With people you never thought you’d be in relationship and community with. For some, this thought is exciting. For some, this thought is terrifying. For I said in the beginning of this sermon that God desires to draw us all into God’s loving presence. And you are the hands and feet that God will use to do that.
To summarize, this is the encouragement I heard to our community today in our letter from Paul:
Believe in the God of Love who was Resurrected.
Speak of the Love you experience through our Resurrected Lord.
And extend that Love and Grace to all.
May it be so. Amen.
Our reading from 2 Corinthians today is Paul doing just that - although it could have been under happier circumstances. This is actually the third letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians, the second letter which he said was “written in tears” is lost to us but it’s evident that the Christians in Corinth were having significant disagreements and issues. In this letter and our text from today, he is urging them towards perseverance in the face of persecution and ultimately reconciliation with him and one another.
One of the rich things about Scripture, however, is the multiple layers of meaning. I always say there are at least two layers - at least - to all Scripture. What the author of the Scripture was saying to the original community and how God is speaking through that same text to us today. So while Paul may have had a specific intention of speaking of perseverance and reconciliation as he wrote, when I read this letter with the people of Boardman United Methodist Church in my mind, rather than the people of the Church of Corinth, what I hear God saying to me and to us in the pews today is a message of encouragement of how we live out our faith - our faith in the God of Love who was Resurrected.
The encouragement is simply this:
Believe in the God of Love who was Resurrected.
Speak of the Love you experience through our Resurrected Lord.
And extend that Love and Grace to all.
Believe. Speak. Extend. Resurrection & Love.
Let’s look at this a little more closely.
Our reading from Paul starts with him quoting the Psalms: “I believe and so I spoke.” Paul adds, “we also believe, and so we speak.” The Psalmist is talking about keeping faith and praising God even among trials and tribulations. Paul too is alluding to this. And yet I wondered - before we even get to the speaking part - what is it that we believe? What is it to have faith?
Paul answers this in the very next verse: “because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence.” What we believe is simply this: Jesus who was and is Lord was raised from the dead and God has plans to share that Resurrection with us, and pull us all into God’s loving and living presence.
And yet, I want to spend a little bit of time talking about what it means to believe this morning. Just six verses after our reading from today ends, Paul says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” But I believe our current culture is often uncomfortable with the ambiguity of faith and thus many Christians and Churches have compiled a check-list of Christian beliefs and you have to tick every box or you’re not considered “one of us” - for some this is strongly implied and yet still others may have explicit Affirmations or Creeds and you have to sign on the bottom line in order to be a part of the community.
Now, don’t get me wrong - I think creeds are very important. I myself hold to the Nicene and Apostles Creeds - which if you aren’t familiar with can be found on page 800 - 802 of our United Methodist Hymnal. And United Methodists do have Articles of Religion that hold the official views of the Church and we have our own distinct Wesleyan theology…
And…not but…and… Faith is so much more than mentally believing what someone tells you to believe. Faith is much more than checking boxes - Belief in the Trinity? Check. Belief in the Divine and Human Nature of Christ? Check. Belief in the Virgin Birth? Check…. Etc, etc. Individuals are going to have different experiences, different thought processes and different qualms about various beliefs or tenets of faith. There are also essential and non-essential aspects of faith and different churches, sects, and individuals won’t always agree where the line is between these things. I tend to take a broad picture approach, as John Wesley, the founder of Methodism said, “Though we may not think alike, may we not love alike.” I’m not saying that what we believe as Christians is a free-for-all, what I am saying is that I don’t think we should assume that faith as Christians is monolithic and that we shouldn’t assume that everyone in the pews is in the same place.
Two years ago, acclaimed Christian author Brian McLaren wrote a book entitled, “Do I Stay Christian?” He lists the theological, ethical, and even moral objections many in our world today have surrounding Christianity…and the acts of Christians. He looks at a history of anti-Semitism, of Christian violence, of Colonialism…and so much more. He spends the first half of the book answering all the reasons one could or should walk away from the Christian faith. In the second half of the book he attempts to answer all the reasons one should stay Christian, to hold fast to one’s faith, and not throw in the towel on our religion. In a world today where there is increasing backlash toward the actions of Christians that don’t match Christ’s commands to love God and neighbor as self, I understand what McLaren was trying to attempt in the book. But here’s my problem with it - his arguments are all in the head. Pointing to facts, statistics, history, reasoning… and that’s not what faith is about for me. I read the book and I have stayed Christian…not because of any logical argument put forth but because I have experienced something greater than myself. My faith is not based in my brain but in my heart that was strangely warmed when I realized that God loved me, yes, even me! My faith is not logical - my faith is felt in my body and my soul. God has acted in my life in ways I can’t explain and ways that even with my degree in theology I sometimes struggle to put words to.
When I am talking about faith today…I am talking about an experience of Life and Love that has grabbed hold of you and you can’t let it go. Faith is the life-long journey of experiencing God’s Love in this world, experiencing the the power of the Resurrection - that is Life in the face of death, Hope in the face of despair, Love in the face of hate, Peace in the face of violence…experiencing the Holy Spirit at work in our world, lives, and hearts…and then faith is the life-long journey of finding the words that help us make some sense out of God’s Goodness towards us. This is something we do as individuals and as a community. We read the Bible. We talk about theology. We listen to sermons. We worship. We try to give our experiences of the Divine shape in all our words and our actions.
Many of us might be here today because we share a set of theological beliefs that we could go down a checklist together on. But I think most of us find ourselves in the pews because we have experienced God at work in our world, our lives, our hearts. We are here because we are a people of faith - faith that is not always logical, but faith we have experienced.
So that’s belief, that’s faith… and Paul says “‘I believed, and so I spoke’ --we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence.”
I already said that when we experience God’s Life and Love, the power of the Resurrection, we can spend the rest of our lives making sense of it, putting words to it, understanding it. And yet that shouldn’t stop us from speaking about it. I think a lot of Christians are hesitant in speaking about their faith because they are still thinking of their faith as a checklist of doctrine that there is some sort of “pressure” that you have to get it all right. We don’t speak about our faith because what if someone asks one of the hard questions that we don’t have an answer to? Or one of the hard questions that there simply isn’t an answer to? Or what if we speak about our faith and the person isn’t open to it or even downright hostile?
There is a quote that is often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi that is “Preach the Gospel always and, when necessary, use words.” We start speaking about our faith by living out our faith. If we believe in Jesus because we have experienced Life, Hope, Love, Light, Peace, God’s Goodness…then our lives should reflect that. Speaking about our faith first requires an examination of our actions (and words). Is all we are saying and doing consistent with the Gospel of Love? If not, then our words will be meaningless to those who hear them but see our actions that speak louder than our words. I’m not saying we have to be perfect in order to share our faith - if that were the case I certainly wouldn’t be in this pulpit this morning or any Sunday. What I am saying is that Love should be our ethic for all we say and do - our actions and words. And when we get it wrong, we try and try again, getting closer to perfect love of God and love of neighbor every day.
Now that quote that’s attributed to St. Francis - it says “use words when necessary.” I have found that many Christians use that as an excuse to not use their words. But friends, in our world, when so many don’t know the Love of Christ, it is necessary. Again. You don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t have to have a checklist of doctrine. All you have to do is talk about your experience. 1 Peter says we should always be ready to give an answer for the reason of the hope that is within us. When we speak about our faith we should never start from a place of convincing someone that we are right and they are wrong. It should never be from a place of standing your ground or picking a fight. It should always be coming from a place of Love - and starting from your own experiences of faith - of Life and Love. Talk about your experiences - and be open to hear about the experiences of others, including those who do not believe and who have not yet experienced the Love of Christ in their lives in a way they can point to it and name it for what it is. They may have even been hurt by those claiming to be acting out of Christian love. Again, our faith doesn’t need you as a defender of it - Christ can handle that. What our faith does require of us - is speaking with words and actions - including actions of listening - that reflect the Life and Love we have experienced.
This takes practice as well. We will all take our whole lives working on getting better at it - that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. And yet we have to take those first steps and let our actions and words speak to our faith.
And lastly, in our reading today Paul says: “so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”
As we experience God’s love. As we speak into that experience with our words and actions. Be prepared for the circle to widen. For God to give you opportunities to share your experience and God’s love with more and more people. With unexpected people. With people who are different from you. With people you never thought you’d be in relationship and community with. For some, this thought is exciting. For some, this thought is terrifying. For I said in the beginning of this sermon that God desires to draw us all into God’s loving presence. And you are the hands and feet that God will use to do that.
To summarize, this is the encouragement I heard to our community today in our letter from Paul:
Believe in the God of Love who was Resurrected.
Speak of the Love you experience through our Resurrected Lord.
And extend that Love and Grace to all.
May it be so. Amen.
Monday, May 20, 2024
"Living Into Pentecost" a sermon on Acts 2:1-21
Acts 2:1-21
“Living Into Pentecost”
Preached Sunday, May 19, 2024
“Living Into Pentecost”
Preached Sunday, May 19, 2024
Today is a big deal! Today is Pentecost, a major celebration in the church year! And yet, we don’t always know that much about this day as it is only 1 day, one Sunday of the year, and it isn’t a Hallmark holiday. There are not any Pentecost sales, greeting cards, or made-for-TV Pentecost movies.
And yet, Pentecost is a very important day for Christians. Pentecost is more than the one day of the Christian year that we wear red and bring out the red vestments. Pentecost is often described as the Birthday of Church - as it was the start of the church, of something new. For this reason we often do confirmations, baptisms, and the acceptance of new members in the church on Pentecost - to celebrate that the Spirit is still moving in and around us and calling new disciples to Christ.
And, Pentecost, really, is the culmination of Easter. It brings us from marveling at the miraculous power of the empty tomb to being launched out into the world to be and do church and to live out the Easter message - as we live into Pentecost.
Theologian and pastor Dannielle Shroyer says this about this day, “Without Pentecost, we’d just be people who tell Jesus’ story. With Pentecost, we’re people who live into Jesus’ story.”
This day, this major holiday and celebration in the church, this day is what makes us BE disciples of Christ, BE the church - living it out in ALL that we say and do, in who we are. This is the day that marks our empowerment to live out the Christian life. As I said, today is a big deal.
So let’s just take a brief moment to understand better some of the background and context for this holiday. Our celebration of Pentecost is rooted in the Jewish celebration of Shavuot. It is one of the three major festivals in Judaism and is celebrated 50 days or 7 weeks after Passover. And so Pentecost is 50 days or 7 weeks after Easter for Christians. Look to the root of the word to help remember that “Pente” means 50.
The celebration of Shavuot is two-fold: first, a celebration of the harvest where Jews were instructed to bring their wheat offering before God AND a celebration of receiving the gift of the Torah. It was also a holiday where ALL members of the household and of the community were to celebrate, no one was left out. So here we see some amazing connections with our celebration of Pentecost. At Pentecost, we celebrate receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. Both the Torah and the Spirit, respectively, are gifts given to ALL, the whole community, no one excluded, to give us what we need to daily live out our faiths. Both holidays, Shavuot and Pentecost are inclusive celebrations of blessings, gifts, from God - given not just to those in the past but to us here today.
And so, it was Shavuot that the disciples were gathered together to celebrate. The Scripture says, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
On that day of Pentecost, that first Pentecost as we think about it as Christians, the disciples were given an amazing gift: the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised to send us the Spirit and on the day of Pentecost, made good on his actions.
The Holy Spirit, however, is the most enigmatic person of the Trinity - the hardest of us to understand and to wrap our heads around. So let’s briefly fly through just some of what our Scripture tells us about the Holy Spirit.
In John 14 - Jesus promises that God the Father will send us another Advocate once Jesus is no longer with us on this Earth. That Advocate will abide with us and in us and will be with us always - never abandoning or orphaning us. That passage continues to say that the Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us about Jesus and his words.
John 15 and 16 continue in this similar vein - Jesus tells his disciples that the Holy Spirit will testify on Jesus’s behalf. That through the Spirit - we will hear and know Jesus. That the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and will guide us all.
Our passage from Romans 8 today told us that through the Spirit God hears our prayers and even that which we can’t put into words. That the Spirit knows us intimately and deeply, helps us in our weakness, and intercedes for us.
The Holy Spirit is also widely referred to as a sanctifying force in our lives. Matthew 13, 1 Peter 1, 1 Corinthians 6, Romans 8 & 15, and so many other places in Scripture talk about being refined or sanctified by the Holy Spirit. What we mean by sanctifying force is that through which we are made more Holy, that through which we are made more like Jesus, that through which we come to better love God and better love neighbor as self.
Galatians 5 says that when the Holy Spirit abides in us and us in the Spirit, it will be obvious as we will bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
And there is so much more about the Holy Spirit… There is how the Hebrew word ruach used in the creation narrative is that Spirit that hovers over the waters of creation. How that same ruach, is the very breath that God breathed into us in the creation of humanity. There is how the Greek word sophia meaning Wisdom is often thought to be the personification of the Spirit. There is how the Spirit is always on the move and hard to pin down and so we use metaphors like wind, breath, and fire…
But I did say we’d just talk about the Holy Spirit briefly so I’ll end there. We could do a whole sermon series on aspects of the Holy Spirit. Today, however, I wanted to highlight some of the primary work of the Holy Spirit to emphasize what an amazing gift the giving of the Holy Spirit to us was.
Our Pastor Bible study that meets on Wednesdays has been focusing for the last 6 weeks on Simon Peter and the culmination of our study which will be next week focuses on the story of Pentecost and the post-Pentecost Peter. The stories we have of the disciple Peter, especially during Jesus’s ministry, are just so…human. Peter is a mix of courage and cowardliness, faithfulness and failures. He thinks before he speaks but his heart is in the right place.
But after Pentecost, Peter truly becomes the rock on which Jesus builds his Church. Cowardly, failing, bumbling along Peter…changes. Because he received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit gives Peter exactly what the Holy Spirit gives us:
Courage and strength in weakness.
Guidance.
Words of truth - words of testimony - words of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Wisdom and breath and life…
Through the Spirit, Peter becomes the Rock, the foundation upon which Christ would build his Church.
As Christians, every year on this important day of Pentecost, we recount Peter’s testimony. We remember the three thousand some people who said yes to the Good News of Jesus Christ on that day, we remember how the Holy Spirit was poured out on Peter and the disciples gathered there.
So here’s my question - do we truly believe that that same Spirit that was given as a gift to Peter and the disciples on Pentecost, do we truly believe that same Spirit has been poured out, given as a gift to us? Do you truly believe that YOU have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit? And have you truly opened yourself up to receiving that gift?
There are some Christian traditions that place a large emphasis on receiving the Holy Spirit. Some talk about being slain in the Spirit, about speaking in tongues, about being moved to dance and to sing… And well, I think that makes a lot of us very uncomfortable. We’re Methodists! We sit and stand when told to and don’t mess around with that other stuff… But just because we don’t highlight the Holy Spirit in that way, doesn’t mean we too haven’t received this amazing and great gift.
Reflecting on the change we see in Peter but not always in ourselves, when we consider receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, United Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton wrote this, “This is how I think many of us live the Christian life. We fail to invite the Holy Spirit to empower us. We don’t pursue the spiritual disciplines of prayer, worship, Scripture reading, silence, and others that open us to the Spirit’s power. We are living Spirit-anemic Christian lives…Without the Spirit's work, we lead powerless, impotent, and sometimes even cowardly Christian lives. But with the Spirit we have power, beyond anything we could imagine, to spread the gospel, help make new disciples, and transform the world for Christ.”
That phrase “Spirit-anemic Christian lives” has been tugging at me ever since I read it. Because I sometimes think that we don’t really believe that we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit is OUR Advocate. That the Holy Spirit is OUR guide. That the Holy Spirit strengthens US. That the Holy Spirit is with you and me and all of us always and forever and will never abandon us and is giving us the potential for amazing things in the Kingdom of God.
Friends, on this day of Pentecost, I want to emphasize that you all have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. So open yourself up to all that gift brings. Dream dreams of the future - of God’s Kingdom - of building up the Church. Testify to the amazing things that God is doing in your life, in the Church, and the world. Do not be afraid for the Spirit will help you in your weakness and guide you and comfort you and be with you always.
What would you be like as a person, what would our church be like, what would our world be like… if we all truly lived into Pentecost? If we all truly lived into the gift of the Spirit that was given to us? If we all truly let the Spirit fill our hearts and lead us into the Kingdom of God.
This Pentecost, today, and every day - may it be so. Amen.
And yet, Pentecost is a very important day for Christians. Pentecost is more than the one day of the Christian year that we wear red and bring out the red vestments. Pentecost is often described as the Birthday of Church - as it was the start of the church, of something new. For this reason we often do confirmations, baptisms, and the acceptance of new members in the church on Pentecost - to celebrate that the Spirit is still moving in and around us and calling new disciples to Christ.
And, Pentecost, really, is the culmination of Easter. It brings us from marveling at the miraculous power of the empty tomb to being launched out into the world to be and do church and to live out the Easter message - as we live into Pentecost.
Theologian and pastor Dannielle Shroyer says this about this day, “Without Pentecost, we’d just be people who tell Jesus’ story. With Pentecost, we’re people who live into Jesus’ story.”
This day, this major holiday and celebration in the church, this day is what makes us BE disciples of Christ, BE the church - living it out in ALL that we say and do, in who we are. This is the day that marks our empowerment to live out the Christian life. As I said, today is a big deal.
So let’s just take a brief moment to understand better some of the background and context for this holiday. Our celebration of Pentecost is rooted in the Jewish celebration of Shavuot. It is one of the three major festivals in Judaism and is celebrated 50 days or 7 weeks after Passover. And so Pentecost is 50 days or 7 weeks after Easter for Christians. Look to the root of the word to help remember that “Pente” means 50.
The celebration of Shavuot is two-fold: first, a celebration of the harvest where Jews were instructed to bring their wheat offering before God AND a celebration of receiving the gift of the Torah. It was also a holiday where ALL members of the household and of the community were to celebrate, no one was left out. So here we see some amazing connections with our celebration of Pentecost. At Pentecost, we celebrate receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. Both the Torah and the Spirit, respectively, are gifts given to ALL, the whole community, no one excluded, to give us what we need to daily live out our faiths. Both holidays, Shavuot and Pentecost are inclusive celebrations of blessings, gifts, from God - given not just to those in the past but to us here today.
And so, it was Shavuot that the disciples were gathered together to celebrate. The Scripture says, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
On that day of Pentecost, that first Pentecost as we think about it as Christians, the disciples were given an amazing gift: the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised to send us the Spirit and on the day of Pentecost, made good on his actions.
The Holy Spirit, however, is the most enigmatic person of the Trinity - the hardest of us to understand and to wrap our heads around. So let’s briefly fly through just some of what our Scripture tells us about the Holy Spirit.
In John 14 - Jesus promises that God the Father will send us another Advocate once Jesus is no longer with us on this Earth. That Advocate will abide with us and in us and will be with us always - never abandoning or orphaning us. That passage continues to say that the Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us about Jesus and his words.
John 15 and 16 continue in this similar vein - Jesus tells his disciples that the Holy Spirit will testify on Jesus’s behalf. That through the Spirit - we will hear and know Jesus. That the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and will guide us all.
Our passage from Romans 8 today told us that through the Spirit God hears our prayers and even that which we can’t put into words. That the Spirit knows us intimately and deeply, helps us in our weakness, and intercedes for us.
The Holy Spirit is also widely referred to as a sanctifying force in our lives. Matthew 13, 1 Peter 1, 1 Corinthians 6, Romans 8 & 15, and so many other places in Scripture talk about being refined or sanctified by the Holy Spirit. What we mean by sanctifying force is that through which we are made more Holy, that through which we are made more like Jesus, that through which we come to better love God and better love neighbor as self.
Galatians 5 says that when the Holy Spirit abides in us and us in the Spirit, it will be obvious as we will bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
And there is so much more about the Holy Spirit… There is how the Hebrew word ruach used in the creation narrative is that Spirit that hovers over the waters of creation. How that same ruach, is the very breath that God breathed into us in the creation of humanity. There is how the Greek word sophia meaning Wisdom is often thought to be the personification of the Spirit. There is how the Spirit is always on the move and hard to pin down and so we use metaphors like wind, breath, and fire…
But I did say we’d just talk about the Holy Spirit briefly so I’ll end there. We could do a whole sermon series on aspects of the Holy Spirit. Today, however, I wanted to highlight some of the primary work of the Holy Spirit to emphasize what an amazing gift the giving of the Holy Spirit to us was.
Our Pastor Bible study that meets on Wednesdays has been focusing for the last 6 weeks on Simon Peter and the culmination of our study which will be next week focuses on the story of Pentecost and the post-Pentecost Peter. The stories we have of the disciple Peter, especially during Jesus’s ministry, are just so…human. Peter is a mix of courage and cowardliness, faithfulness and failures. He thinks before he speaks but his heart is in the right place.
But after Pentecost, Peter truly becomes the rock on which Jesus builds his Church. Cowardly, failing, bumbling along Peter…changes. Because he received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit gives Peter exactly what the Holy Spirit gives us:
Courage and strength in weakness.
Guidance.
Words of truth - words of testimony - words of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Wisdom and breath and life…
Through the Spirit, Peter becomes the Rock, the foundation upon which Christ would build his Church.
As Christians, every year on this important day of Pentecost, we recount Peter’s testimony. We remember the three thousand some people who said yes to the Good News of Jesus Christ on that day, we remember how the Holy Spirit was poured out on Peter and the disciples gathered there.
So here’s my question - do we truly believe that that same Spirit that was given as a gift to Peter and the disciples on Pentecost, do we truly believe that same Spirit has been poured out, given as a gift to us? Do you truly believe that YOU have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit? And have you truly opened yourself up to receiving that gift?
There are some Christian traditions that place a large emphasis on receiving the Holy Spirit. Some talk about being slain in the Spirit, about speaking in tongues, about being moved to dance and to sing… And well, I think that makes a lot of us very uncomfortable. We’re Methodists! We sit and stand when told to and don’t mess around with that other stuff… But just because we don’t highlight the Holy Spirit in that way, doesn’t mean we too haven’t received this amazing and great gift.
Reflecting on the change we see in Peter but not always in ourselves, when we consider receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, United Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton wrote this, “This is how I think many of us live the Christian life. We fail to invite the Holy Spirit to empower us. We don’t pursue the spiritual disciplines of prayer, worship, Scripture reading, silence, and others that open us to the Spirit’s power. We are living Spirit-anemic Christian lives…Without the Spirit's work, we lead powerless, impotent, and sometimes even cowardly Christian lives. But with the Spirit we have power, beyond anything we could imagine, to spread the gospel, help make new disciples, and transform the world for Christ.”
That phrase “Spirit-anemic Christian lives” has been tugging at me ever since I read it. Because I sometimes think that we don’t really believe that we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit is OUR Advocate. That the Holy Spirit is OUR guide. That the Holy Spirit strengthens US. That the Holy Spirit is with you and me and all of us always and forever and will never abandon us and is giving us the potential for amazing things in the Kingdom of God.
Friends, on this day of Pentecost, I want to emphasize that you all have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. So open yourself up to all that gift brings. Dream dreams of the future - of God’s Kingdom - of building up the Church. Testify to the amazing things that God is doing in your life, in the Church, and the world. Do not be afraid for the Spirit will help you in your weakness and guide you and comfort you and be with you always.
What would you be like as a person, what would our church be like, what would our world be like… if we all truly lived into Pentecost? If we all truly lived into the gift of the Spirit that was given to us? If we all truly let the Spirit fill our hearts and lead us into the Kingdom of God.
This Pentecost, today, and every day - may it be so. Amen.
Monday, May 13, 2024
"With Great Joy" a sermon on Acts 1:1-11 & Luke 24:44-53
Acts 1:1-11
Luke 24:44-53
“With Great Joy”
Preached Sunday, May 12, 2024
Have you ever said to yourself “Now what???”
There are times in our lives we all ask this question. Graduation is a big one - whether it’s high school or college or whatever. The future can seem wide open and we may be filled with excitement and anticipation. I still recall this feeling post high school and college…but I also remember the stress and anxiety of it all too. Where am I going to live? Am I going to have a job? What’s next? The future was supposed to be exciting but it also stressed me out!
And there are other times we ask ourselves “Now what?” I know many of you asked that of yourselves when you retired or even now as you approach retirement. It’s a huge life change and I bet it is also a mix of anticipation and excitement and maybe a little bit of loss and anxiety too. Just all wrapped up together.
There are the “now what”s of divorce, of a diagnosis, of the death of a loved one, of becoming empty nesters, of pastoral transitions, of…anytime when our lives as we know them changes.
Perhaps you are at a “Now what?” moment in your own life - or you can certainly recall a time that you were in this liminal space.
The disciples asked “Now what?” after Jesus ascended. The Ascension is what we call that event that we read about in Acts today. When, 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended into Heaven. After dying, rising again, and making many appearances among his disciples, it was time for Jesus to pass the baton. To give the gift of the Holy Spirit. And to ascend to his eternal throne. The book of Acts starts with the Ascension. You may have noticed that in the bulletin or when our liturgust read the Scripture out loud today. Chapter 1, Verse 1. Because the rest of the book of Acts is the disciples trying to figure out what’s next for them as followers of Jesus. “Now what?” they asked. What do followers do when the one they are following is no longer here?
When Jesus was arrested and put on the cross the answer was run away, scatter, deny, hide. But this time was different. Jesus was not here anymore but he was not dead - he was alive - they had seen him with their own eyes, touched him with their own hands - everything had changed. They no longer believed that death had the final say and that changed everything for them. So the “Now what?” could not be to give up and go home. It could not be to continue business as usual. It had to be something new. The followers of Jesus now became leaders of a whole movement. Leaders of the church. They were now the only hands and feet and mouths that Jesus had on this Earth.
The disciples were followers when Jesus was alive, almost more observers than anything.
Luke 24:44-53
“With Great Joy”
Preached Sunday, May 12, 2024
Have you ever said to yourself “Now what???”
There are times in our lives we all ask this question. Graduation is a big one - whether it’s high school or college or whatever. The future can seem wide open and we may be filled with excitement and anticipation. I still recall this feeling post high school and college…but I also remember the stress and anxiety of it all too. Where am I going to live? Am I going to have a job? What’s next? The future was supposed to be exciting but it also stressed me out!
And there are other times we ask ourselves “Now what?” I know many of you asked that of yourselves when you retired or even now as you approach retirement. It’s a huge life change and I bet it is also a mix of anticipation and excitement and maybe a little bit of loss and anxiety too. Just all wrapped up together.
There are the “now what”s of divorce, of a diagnosis, of the death of a loved one, of becoming empty nesters, of pastoral transitions, of…anytime when our lives as we know them changes.
Perhaps you are at a “Now what?” moment in your own life - or you can certainly recall a time that you were in this liminal space.
The disciples asked “Now what?” after Jesus ascended. The Ascension is what we call that event that we read about in Acts today. When, 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended into Heaven. After dying, rising again, and making many appearances among his disciples, it was time for Jesus to pass the baton. To give the gift of the Holy Spirit. And to ascend to his eternal throne. The book of Acts starts with the Ascension. You may have noticed that in the bulletin or when our liturgust read the Scripture out loud today. Chapter 1, Verse 1. Because the rest of the book of Acts is the disciples trying to figure out what’s next for them as followers of Jesus. “Now what?” they asked. What do followers do when the one they are following is no longer here?
When Jesus was arrested and put on the cross the answer was run away, scatter, deny, hide. But this time was different. Jesus was not here anymore but he was not dead - he was alive - they had seen him with their own eyes, touched him with their own hands - everything had changed. They no longer believed that death had the final say and that changed everything for them. So the “Now what?” could not be to give up and go home. It could not be to continue business as usual. It had to be something new. The followers of Jesus now became leaders of a whole movement. Leaders of the church. They were now the only hands and feet and mouths that Jesus had on this Earth.
The disciples were followers when Jesus was alive, almost more observers than anything.
When Jesus died, they went on the defensive, scared and afraid.
And now, after their Lord’s resurrection, after his ascension…it was finally time to say, “Now what?”
And to look at, and partially answer, this “now what?” question, we are going to kind of combine the two tellings of the Ascension that we heard from today’s Scriptures.
In the telling of the Ascension that we have from Acts, Jesus Jesus gathers his disciples together, blesses his disciples, commissions them to be his witnesses, and then is lifted up toward heaven and disappears from their sight.
At that time, two men in white robes appear and ask them, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”
Uhhh...Cause Jesus just went, you know, up, there…
But I don’t think they were simply asking why their heads were upwards. “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” Maybe it was more, “Get your heads out of the clouds and look around.”
Friends, sometimes as Christians, as the Church, and just as people - we have the tendency to look in the wrong directions.
Sometimes we look up. Now, don’t get me wrong. We are to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. And I can’t say that without thinking of a favorite hymn, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace…”
And yet, sometimes we can only look at Jesus as up there, our heads in the clouds, and fail to see the Jesus with us here and now: moving around, through, and with us in our world. Jesus in the face of our neighbors. Jesus, ascended, yes, but active in this world through the Spirit and through the actions of our siblings in Christ. God is not just in a distant heaven, Christ is here, now, as we embody his love and mission to the world.
So look up - yes, but don’t get a crick in your neck.
Now I said we often look in the wrong directions - plural. Just as our heads can get stuck in the clouds, a crick in our necks, it’s all too easy for us to look backwards.
Raise your hand or nod your head if you’ve ever said or heard the phrase in the life of the Church, “We’ve always done it this way…” Okay, good. Hands down. Now what about having said or heard the phrase, “We USED to…” Hands or nods? Yupp. Now, tradition can be a good, beautiful, and gratifying thing. We can also give thanks and learn from ministries in the past… The trap we can fall into, however, is looking backwards not with gratitude, appreciation, and learning, but with an all-consuming desire to live in the past - which is just not possible or healthy.
Following the Ascension, the disciples could have kept looking up. Their heads in the clouds, focusing on where Jesus went - rather than the gift of the Holy Spirit which they were about to receive, and how the Spirit, with and through them, was going to change the world.
Following the Ascension, the disciples could have just looked backwards, looked to the past. Focusing on what it was like when Jesus walked among them. What it was like when they sat at his feet. What it was like to see him heal, walk on water, perform miracles. What it was like to eat together, laughing, talking… What it was like for him to appear to them after the Resurrection. The shock and the joy. The disciples could have become an entirely backwards, past-focused group. Only ever talking about what was. Only ever talking about the glory days when there were 5,000 men plus women and children gathered to hear Jesus preach… They COULD have only looked up or looked backwards…
But instead they asked themselves, “Now what?”
And the answer was - look forward… and they did so, as it tells us in Luke, with great joy: “While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy…”
The disciples return to Jerusalem as Jesus told them to, to wait for the new thing that was about to happen, to turn toward the future. They did not yet know all that the future would hold for them - the day of Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit, the life and world-changing evangelism of the Gospel, how they would preach, teach, and perform miracles in the name of Jesus, and how many of them would become martyrs for the sake of the Gospel…
It’s surprising enough that the disciples didn’t get stuck looking up or backwards - that they instead looked toward the future and the amazing God-driven things that were about to happen. It’s even more surprising though that they looked toward the future with great joy.
It’s very human to look toward the future, especially the unknown and unclear future when everything has just changed, with uncertainty, anxiety, and trepidation… But the disciples had great joy for the new thing that God was about to do.
They didn’t yet know what that new thing was, they didn’t fully understand it, but they trusted in their Resurrected Lord. They trusted Jesus. And because they trusted in him they were not left panicking saying, “Now what??” Because they trusted Jesus they were able to be filled with JOY. Because whatever the future brought, it would be God-led. Whatever the future brought…God would be with them. Which is counter-intuitive because Jesus just said goodbye, Jesus left them…but he left with a promise that he would always be with them. And while at that time that may not have made any sense to them, they trusted God! And so they were filled with great joy.
On this Ascension Day, in the year of Our Lord 2024, I feel we have a lot to learn from the example of the Disciples.
We must ask ourselves: What direction am I facing?
We must ask ourselves: Do I trust God? Do I trust my future, the future of the Church, and the future of the world to God?
We must ask ourselves: Can we too be filled with great joy?
And here’s what I hope our answers can become even if they are not there yet:
We are facing forward - looking toward the new things that God intends to do with us, the Church and the world. Because yes! We trust God! We trust all that we have to the hands of Jesus. And yes, we can and are already filled with great joy!
May it be so.
And now, after their Lord’s resurrection, after his ascension…it was finally time to say, “Now what?”
And to look at, and partially answer, this “now what?” question, we are going to kind of combine the two tellings of the Ascension that we heard from today’s Scriptures.
In the telling of the Ascension that we have from Acts, Jesus Jesus gathers his disciples together, blesses his disciples, commissions them to be his witnesses, and then is lifted up toward heaven and disappears from their sight.
At that time, two men in white robes appear and ask them, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”
Uhhh...Cause Jesus just went, you know, up, there…
But I don’t think they were simply asking why their heads were upwards. “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” Maybe it was more, “Get your heads out of the clouds and look around.”
Friends, sometimes as Christians, as the Church, and just as people - we have the tendency to look in the wrong directions.
Sometimes we look up. Now, don’t get me wrong. We are to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. And I can’t say that without thinking of a favorite hymn, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace…”
And yet, sometimes we can only look at Jesus as up there, our heads in the clouds, and fail to see the Jesus with us here and now: moving around, through, and with us in our world. Jesus in the face of our neighbors. Jesus, ascended, yes, but active in this world through the Spirit and through the actions of our siblings in Christ. God is not just in a distant heaven, Christ is here, now, as we embody his love and mission to the world.
So look up - yes, but don’t get a crick in your neck.
Now I said we often look in the wrong directions - plural. Just as our heads can get stuck in the clouds, a crick in our necks, it’s all too easy for us to look backwards.
Raise your hand or nod your head if you’ve ever said or heard the phrase in the life of the Church, “We’ve always done it this way…” Okay, good. Hands down. Now what about having said or heard the phrase, “We USED to…” Hands or nods? Yupp. Now, tradition can be a good, beautiful, and gratifying thing. We can also give thanks and learn from ministries in the past… The trap we can fall into, however, is looking backwards not with gratitude, appreciation, and learning, but with an all-consuming desire to live in the past - which is just not possible or healthy.
Following the Ascension, the disciples could have kept looking up. Their heads in the clouds, focusing on where Jesus went - rather than the gift of the Holy Spirit which they were about to receive, and how the Spirit, with and through them, was going to change the world.
Following the Ascension, the disciples could have just looked backwards, looked to the past. Focusing on what it was like when Jesus walked among them. What it was like when they sat at his feet. What it was like to see him heal, walk on water, perform miracles. What it was like to eat together, laughing, talking… What it was like for him to appear to them after the Resurrection. The shock and the joy. The disciples could have become an entirely backwards, past-focused group. Only ever talking about what was. Only ever talking about the glory days when there were 5,000 men plus women and children gathered to hear Jesus preach… They COULD have only looked up or looked backwards…
But instead they asked themselves, “Now what?”
And the answer was - look forward… and they did so, as it tells us in Luke, with great joy: “While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy…”
The disciples return to Jerusalem as Jesus told them to, to wait for the new thing that was about to happen, to turn toward the future. They did not yet know all that the future would hold for them - the day of Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit, the life and world-changing evangelism of the Gospel, how they would preach, teach, and perform miracles in the name of Jesus, and how many of them would become martyrs for the sake of the Gospel…
It’s surprising enough that the disciples didn’t get stuck looking up or backwards - that they instead looked toward the future and the amazing God-driven things that were about to happen. It’s even more surprising though that they looked toward the future with great joy.
It’s very human to look toward the future, especially the unknown and unclear future when everything has just changed, with uncertainty, anxiety, and trepidation… But the disciples had great joy for the new thing that God was about to do.
They didn’t yet know what that new thing was, they didn’t fully understand it, but they trusted in their Resurrected Lord. They trusted Jesus. And because they trusted in him they were not left panicking saying, “Now what??” Because they trusted Jesus they were able to be filled with JOY. Because whatever the future brought, it would be God-led. Whatever the future brought…God would be with them. Which is counter-intuitive because Jesus just said goodbye, Jesus left them…but he left with a promise that he would always be with them. And while at that time that may not have made any sense to them, they trusted God! And so they were filled with great joy.
On this Ascension Day, in the year of Our Lord 2024, I feel we have a lot to learn from the example of the Disciples.
We must ask ourselves: What direction am I facing?
We must ask ourselves: Do I trust God? Do I trust my future, the future of the Church, and the future of the world to God?
We must ask ourselves: Can we too be filled with great joy?
And here’s what I hope our answers can become even if they are not there yet:
We are facing forward - looking toward the new things that God intends to do with us, the Church and the world. Because yes! We trust God! We trust all that we have to the hands of Jesus. And yes, we can and are already filled with great joy!
May it be so.
Monday, May 6, 2024
"Love - Even On Them" a sermon on Acts 10:44-48 & John 15:9-17
John 15:9-17
Acts 10:44-48
“Love - Even On Them”
Preached Sunday, May 5, 2024
Who are your friends? Think about the answer for a second, say their names to yourself.
Why are they your friends? Similar interests? Circumstances threw you together? Something else? Think about that answer for a second as well.
How do we define friendship? And given that definition, how we do understand our relationship with Jesus, as in this week’s Gospel text, he calls us friends. “You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends…”
To be honest, friend is not a go-to title of Jesus for me and that’s partially because of how I’ve understood my earthly friendships. Because, well, a lot of our best pals have the same interests as us. Believe the same things as us. If Jesus was just like my best pals, he’d have a theology degree from Vanderbilt, would watch Pride and Prejudice on repeat with me, and would enjoy all you can eat sushi. But it’s not because we have similar hobbies or interests that Jesus calls us friends.
One of those most famous friendships in the Bible is between David and Jonathan. 1 Samuel 18 describes that friendship: “the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” In this sense, friends are those whose lives are inextricably tied to ours, at a spiritual level. That tie is built on love as if for one’s own self.
Think again of those friends you have - think of those you are closest to, perhaps their lives are inextricably tied to yours, perhaps you are friends because you are bound together in love.
In the Greco-Roman sense of friendship, that which Jesus could have been familiar with, friends “weren’t people of similar interests having fun together. Friends, at least as the philosophical ideal would have it, were committed to the care of each other’s souls. As Aristotle famously put it, ‘The opposite of a friend is a flatterer.’ A friend is someone who speaks the truth, who builds up your character; you have a shared commitment to helping each other to become good, wise, and holy.”
A lot of us want flatters as friends. A lot of us have flatters as friends. But that’s not what friendship with Jesus looks like. Jesus isn’t just gonna pat us on the back and tell us we’re doing a good job. By claiming us as friends, Jesus has tied himself to us on a spiritual level, committed to the care of our souls. And sometimes, that looks like putting us in our place and telling us what’s best for us.
I believe that is why the Scripture says, “You are my friends IF you do what I command you…” So what is it that Jesus commands us to do? “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for a friend.”
The commandment? To love one another. To care for each other as we care for ourselves. To care for the SOUL of each other, to put others first.
And when we DON’T love one another, when we treat anyone less than a child of God, not only does it hurt the other person, but it hurts our soul as well. And, as a friend, Jesus wants what is best for our soul: love.
Bryan M. Massingale, Jesuit priest, professor, and author of “Racial Justice and the Catholic Church” describes racism as a soul-sickness. He says, “For a believer, it is important to see racism as a soul sickness. Racism is that interior disease, that warping of the human spirit, that enables us to create communities where some matter and some do not.” And this is true for any -ism. Last week we talked about the text from 1 John that says anyone who fears or hates someone, cannot love them and cannot love God. And this is what all -isms do: This warping of the human spirit, the warping of our souls that causes us to treat some people as more worthy or trustworthy than others. Some as better than. Some as insiders or outsiders.
Anytime we put anyone in a “them” versus “us” category, it warps our souls. Instead of having love in our soul, we have anger or contempt or fear. Instead of acts of kindness, there is malice. Instead of friendship, there are claims of superiority. It does not matter who this “other,” is - those of a different gender, sexuality, socioeconomic class, race, ethnicity, religion, or political party whoever “THEY” are - the simple act of having a “them” instead of an “us” warps our souls, spreading an illness, a sickness of our soul which damages us in turn.
Whenever I think in terms of “us” versus “them” - which, hey, I’ll admit, I’m guilty of more than I want to admit, I think of the words of Nadia Bolz-Weber. Nadia is a Lutheran minister and founder of the Church for All Saints and Sinners in Colorado. She is known for her more progressive Christianity. She is a recovering addict with sleeve tattoos and pastored a church that openly welcomes LGBTQ folk, addicts, and doubters alongside soccer moms and investment bankers. In her book, she writes about the advice a friend gave her:
“[My friend] once said to me, after one of my more finely worded rants about stupid people who have the wrong opinions, ‘Nadia, the thing that sucks is that every time we draw a line between us and others, Jesus is always on the other side of it.’
“Every time we draw a line between us and others, Jesus is on the other side of it.”
Dang. That can be hard to hear. Basically, Jesus is always with the outcast, with those shunned, with the marginalized. Jesus doesn’t have time for our dividing distinctions. For borders, for divisions, for human-made categories. Jesus loves all and calls all who follow his command, to love one another, he calls us friends.
Last week’s story of the Ethiopian eunuch getting baptized showed us how the Spirit is also widening who God is inviting into our communities - even and especially on those who would be on the outskirts of societies, those who would be subversive or surprising, those who we might first fear or exclude but God is breaking down barriers, walls, -isms, and fear with the perfect Love of God. Once again this week, our Scripture from Acts has God breaking barriers of “us” versus “them.”
The reading from this week was the climax of a much longer story in Acts 10. The passage starts by describing a very devout Gentile, Cornelius. “In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God.” An angel of the Lord spoke to Cornelius, telling him to go find Peter and invite him to the house. At the same time, Peter had a vision from God, telling him to make no distinction between clean and unclean and to go with the servant to the house of Cornelius. Basically, eat what Cornelius offers to you. Go, be with Cornelius, human-to-human not Gentile to Jew, not us versus them. So Peter goes to the house of Cornelius and teaches saying, “‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all.’”
And as Peter was saying this, the Holy Spirit is poured out on Cornelius, his friends, his family, his household. All that he had gathered together. And the Scripture says, “The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God.” And the words that pop out to me are that they were ASTONISHED that the Spirit had been poured out EVEN ON the Gentiles. Even on THEM. THEY are different from us. I mean, yeah, sure, as Peter said, God shows no partiality….but surely that doesn’t include THEM, right? Just as it is when we say we believe that God shows no partiality...but in our hearts we go, “but certainly not THEM, you know, people like such and such….” But behold! Anytime you draw a line between us and them, God is always on the other side of that line.
And so, this story shows us God breaking down our “even them” barriers. I also wonder, whose lives were more changed by this encounter. Was it Cornelius’s as he was baptized? Certainly his life was changed but the Scriptures already described him as a God-fearing, devout, and generous man. Instead I would suggest that the lives of the religious circumcised were changed. Those who were astonished that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on “even them.” What kind of soul-sickness did they have in their hearts to separate Gentiles into a “them” category, not one of “us,” someone whose life matters less, someone who God loves less...On that day, as the Spirit was poured out, and they saw God choosing those who they had drawn a line between “them” and “us” - God choosing those on the other side of our human distinctions - what part of them was healed that day? Making more room for love, charity, kindness, friendship in their souls. Making more room for everyone at this table, to eat and drink and share in the love of Jesus together.
Which brings me to some news articles from this week. I am sure many of you have seen the breaking news headlines to come out of The United Methodist Church General Conference. General Conference is the worldwide decision making body of The United Methodist Church. Only they have the authority to change the Book of Discipline, the book that structures and orders our theological and administrative lives as United Methodists.
And through the course of the last two weeks, historic votes took place including removing language that prohibited openly LGBTQ individuals from being ordained as clergy, getting married in United Methodist Churches, or United Methodist clergy presiding over those weddings. Our book had harmful and discriminatory language against LGBTQ folks who were created in the image of God, are loved by God, and who are our siblings in Christ who we are called to love. And we were failing at loving God and them through the language and rules in our Book of Discipline.
To be clear, mandatory inclusive language was not added. Churches and pastors who do not wish to preside over or host same-sex weddings do not have to. Churches who aren't ready to receive certain pastors most likely won't. Our language however in the Book of Discipline is no longer harmful. It is not inclusive or affirming either. It is truly neutral language. And still, this is a big change in The United Methodist Church.
I also want to say that these changes passed with overwhelming majorities from the worldwide United Methodist Church, including votes from our African siblings in Christ.
I know that even in our own congregation, we are not all of one mind on this decision. Some will celebrate, some will lament, some will be somewhere in the middle.
But let’s think of all of this in light of our Scriptures from this week:
What are we called to do? Follow Jesus’s commandment to love one another. When we love one another, Jesus calls us his friends.
Acts 10:44-48
“Love - Even On Them”
Preached Sunday, May 5, 2024
Who are your friends? Think about the answer for a second, say their names to yourself.
Why are they your friends? Similar interests? Circumstances threw you together? Something else? Think about that answer for a second as well.
How do we define friendship? And given that definition, how we do understand our relationship with Jesus, as in this week’s Gospel text, he calls us friends. “You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends…”
To be honest, friend is not a go-to title of Jesus for me and that’s partially because of how I’ve understood my earthly friendships. Because, well, a lot of our best pals have the same interests as us. Believe the same things as us. If Jesus was just like my best pals, he’d have a theology degree from Vanderbilt, would watch Pride and Prejudice on repeat with me, and would enjoy all you can eat sushi. But it’s not because we have similar hobbies or interests that Jesus calls us friends.
One of those most famous friendships in the Bible is between David and Jonathan. 1 Samuel 18 describes that friendship: “the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” In this sense, friends are those whose lives are inextricably tied to ours, at a spiritual level. That tie is built on love as if for one’s own self.
Think again of those friends you have - think of those you are closest to, perhaps their lives are inextricably tied to yours, perhaps you are friends because you are bound together in love.
In the Greco-Roman sense of friendship, that which Jesus could have been familiar with, friends “weren’t people of similar interests having fun together. Friends, at least as the philosophical ideal would have it, were committed to the care of each other’s souls. As Aristotle famously put it, ‘The opposite of a friend is a flatterer.’ A friend is someone who speaks the truth, who builds up your character; you have a shared commitment to helping each other to become good, wise, and holy.”
A lot of us want flatters as friends. A lot of us have flatters as friends. But that’s not what friendship with Jesus looks like. Jesus isn’t just gonna pat us on the back and tell us we’re doing a good job. By claiming us as friends, Jesus has tied himself to us on a spiritual level, committed to the care of our souls. And sometimes, that looks like putting us in our place and telling us what’s best for us.
I believe that is why the Scripture says, “You are my friends IF you do what I command you…” So what is it that Jesus commands us to do? “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for a friend.”
The commandment? To love one another. To care for each other as we care for ourselves. To care for the SOUL of each other, to put others first.
And when we DON’T love one another, when we treat anyone less than a child of God, not only does it hurt the other person, but it hurts our soul as well. And, as a friend, Jesus wants what is best for our soul: love.
Bryan M. Massingale, Jesuit priest, professor, and author of “Racial Justice and the Catholic Church” describes racism as a soul-sickness. He says, “For a believer, it is important to see racism as a soul sickness. Racism is that interior disease, that warping of the human spirit, that enables us to create communities where some matter and some do not.” And this is true for any -ism. Last week we talked about the text from 1 John that says anyone who fears or hates someone, cannot love them and cannot love God. And this is what all -isms do: This warping of the human spirit, the warping of our souls that causes us to treat some people as more worthy or trustworthy than others. Some as better than. Some as insiders or outsiders.
Anytime we put anyone in a “them” versus “us” category, it warps our souls. Instead of having love in our soul, we have anger or contempt or fear. Instead of acts of kindness, there is malice. Instead of friendship, there are claims of superiority. It does not matter who this “other,” is - those of a different gender, sexuality, socioeconomic class, race, ethnicity, religion, or political party whoever “THEY” are - the simple act of having a “them” instead of an “us” warps our souls, spreading an illness, a sickness of our soul which damages us in turn.
Whenever I think in terms of “us” versus “them” - which, hey, I’ll admit, I’m guilty of more than I want to admit, I think of the words of Nadia Bolz-Weber. Nadia is a Lutheran minister and founder of the Church for All Saints and Sinners in Colorado. She is known for her more progressive Christianity. She is a recovering addict with sleeve tattoos and pastored a church that openly welcomes LGBTQ folk, addicts, and doubters alongside soccer moms and investment bankers. In her book, she writes about the advice a friend gave her:
“[My friend] once said to me, after one of my more finely worded rants about stupid people who have the wrong opinions, ‘Nadia, the thing that sucks is that every time we draw a line between us and others, Jesus is always on the other side of it.’
“Every time we draw a line between us and others, Jesus is on the other side of it.”
Dang. That can be hard to hear. Basically, Jesus is always with the outcast, with those shunned, with the marginalized. Jesus doesn’t have time for our dividing distinctions. For borders, for divisions, for human-made categories. Jesus loves all and calls all who follow his command, to love one another, he calls us friends.
Last week’s story of the Ethiopian eunuch getting baptized showed us how the Spirit is also widening who God is inviting into our communities - even and especially on those who would be on the outskirts of societies, those who would be subversive or surprising, those who we might first fear or exclude but God is breaking down barriers, walls, -isms, and fear with the perfect Love of God. Once again this week, our Scripture from Acts has God breaking barriers of “us” versus “them.”
The reading from this week was the climax of a much longer story in Acts 10. The passage starts by describing a very devout Gentile, Cornelius. “In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God.” An angel of the Lord spoke to Cornelius, telling him to go find Peter and invite him to the house. At the same time, Peter had a vision from God, telling him to make no distinction between clean and unclean and to go with the servant to the house of Cornelius. Basically, eat what Cornelius offers to you. Go, be with Cornelius, human-to-human not Gentile to Jew, not us versus them. So Peter goes to the house of Cornelius and teaches saying, “‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all.’”
And as Peter was saying this, the Holy Spirit is poured out on Cornelius, his friends, his family, his household. All that he had gathered together. And the Scripture says, “The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God.” And the words that pop out to me are that they were ASTONISHED that the Spirit had been poured out EVEN ON the Gentiles. Even on THEM. THEY are different from us. I mean, yeah, sure, as Peter said, God shows no partiality….but surely that doesn’t include THEM, right? Just as it is when we say we believe that God shows no partiality...but in our hearts we go, “but certainly not THEM, you know, people like such and such….” But behold! Anytime you draw a line between us and them, God is always on the other side of that line.
And so, this story shows us God breaking down our “even them” barriers. I also wonder, whose lives were more changed by this encounter. Was it Cornelius’s as he was baptized? Certainly his life was changed but the Scriptures already described him as a God-fearing, devout, and generous man. Instead I would suggest that the lives of the religious circumcised were changed. Those who were astonished that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on “even them.” What kind of soul-sickness did they have in their hearts to separate Gentiles into a “them” category, not one of “us,” someone whose life matters less, someone who God loves less...On that day, as the Spirit was poured out, and they saw God choosing those who they had drawn a line between “them” and “us” - God choosing those on the other side of our human distinctions - what part of them was healed that day? Making more room for love, charity, kindness, friendship in their souls. Making more room for everyone at this table, to eat and drink and share in the love of Jesus together.
Which brings me to some news articles from this week. I am sure many of you have seen the breaking news headlines to come out of The United Methodist Church General Conference. General Conference is the worldwide decision making body of The United Methodist Church. Only they have the authority to change the Book of Discipline, the book that structures and orders our theological and administrative lives as United Methodists.
And through the course of the last two weeks, historic votes took place including removing language that prohibited openly LGBTQ individuals from being ordained as clergy, getting married in United Methodist Churches, or United Methodist clergy presiding over those weddings. Our book had harmful and discriminatory language against LGBTQ folks who were created in the image of God, are loved by God, and who are our siblings in Christ who we are called to love. And we were failing at loving God and them through the language and rules in our Book of Discipline.
To be clear, mandatory inclusive language was not added. Churches and pastors who do not wish to preside over or host same-sex weddings do not have to. Churches who aren't ready to receive certain pastors most likely won't. Our language however in the Book of Discipline is no longer harmful. It is not inclusive or affirming either. It is truly neutral language. And still, this is a big change in The United Methodist Church.
I also want to say that these changes passed with overwhelming majorities from the worldwide United Methodist Church, including votes from our African siblings in Christ.
I know that even in our own congregation, we are not all of one mind on this decision. Some will celebrate, some will lament, some will be somewhere in the middle.
But let’s think of all of this in light of our Scriptures from this week:
What are we called to do? Follow Jesus’s commandment to love one another. When we love one another, Jesus calls us his friends.
And where are we, where are you, in the story of the Baptism of Cornelius and his family? Perhaps you are celebrating that this new group of Roman Gentiles was brought into the family of God. Perhaps you yourself are part of that group. Perhaps you are one in the crowd watching and surprised, thinking “Even on them?” Yes. Even on them.
Remember, the Spirit is always widening the circle of who God includes, welcomes, and loves. Our job as Christians is to keep up with the Holy Spirit. And even if you’re in a place where you can’t celebrate or accept - we all can still love. For perfect love drives out fear. Love God. Love neighbor. Love all children of God. For love will heal all of our souls.
This is what it means for Jesus to be our friend. It means that Jesus will work within and around us, to allow us to heal our own sin and fear sick souls. To give us endless opportunities to love others, to welcome others in, to go out to help others, and to break down distinctions of “us” versus “them.” Because Jesus loves us, calls us friends, and cares for our souls. Therefore, let us be a friend to Jesus, a friend to each other, a friend to “even them” and follow Jesus’s command to love one another.
Amen.
Remember, the Spirit is always widening the circle of who God includes, welcomes, and loves. Our job as Christians is to keep up with the Holy Spirit. And even if you’re in a place where you can’t celebrate or accept - we all can still love. For perfect love drives out fear. Love God. Love neighbor. Love all children of God. For love will heal all of our souls.
This is what it means for Jesus to be our friend. It means that Jesus will work within and around us, to allow us to heal our own sin and fear sick souls. To give us endless opportunities to love others, to welcome others in, to go out to help others, and to break down distinctions of “us” versus “them.” Because Jesus loves us, calls us friends, and cares for our souls. Therefore, let us be a friend to Jesus, a friend to each other, a friend to “even them” and follow Jesus’s command to love one another.
Amen.
Monday, April 29, 2024
"Love & Water" a sermon on Acts 8:26-40 & 1 John 4:7-21
Acts 8:26-40
1 John 4:7-21
“Love & Water”
Preached Sunday, April 25, 2024
I want to take a moment and tell you how absolutely excited I was for the opportunity to baptize a beloved child of God this morning AND for that baptism to happen with these assigned texts this morning. Our readings came from the assigned Revised Common Lectionary texts for this Sunday morning - part of the love passage from 1 John and the story of the Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch. These texts alongside participating in the sacrament of Holy Baptism is just - chef’s kiss - perfection.
This match-up combines 2 of my 3 greatest joys as a minister:
1. Telling everyone that they are a beloved child of the God who is Love - and I mean EVERYONE - we’ll dig into that a little more with the Acts texts. And -
2. Baptizing children of God - claiming them by and for Love as God’s beloved child, and welcoming them into the community of faith
I hope, by the end of this sermon, you are just as hyped as I am for the loving and inclusive Kingdom of God that God paints for us in the Scriptures today and that we got to glimpse in the act of Baptism today.
So let’s start by going back to the basics of some of what happens in Baptism. For some this may be a refresher and still for others, you may hear it for the first time or with new ears.
In baptism, we are adopted into God’s family. Every child, every person, on this earth, is already a child of God and already loved by God. In Baptism, we formalize that adoption and celebrate that love. As an adult, that person makes a public statement of their faith, accepting that they are loved by God and promising to serve God. When we baptize children, parents make promises on behalf of their child - that one day, if they so choose, they can accept for themselves. And the parents promise, to the best of their ability, to raise their child to know the God who is Love. So we have God making a promise in Baptism: You are my child and I love you. We have the baptized or parents of the baptized making a promise: I will follow God and/or I will raise this child to know God. And then the congregation also makes a promise on behalf of all Christian communities: We will love this person, we will show them Jesus through our love, and we will accept them into the family of God, the Church.
1 John 4:7-21
“Love & Water”
Preached Sunday, April 25, 2024
I want to take a moment and tell you how absolutely excited I was for the opportunity to baptize a beloved child of God this morning AND for that baptism to happen with these assigned texts this morning. Our readings came from the assigned Revised Common Lectionary texts for this Sunday morning - part of the love passage from 1 John and the story of the Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch. These texts alongside participating in the sacrament of Holy Baptism is just - chef’s kiss - perfection.
This match-up combines 2 of my 3 greatest joys as a minister:
1. Telling everyone that they are a beloved child of the God who is Love - and I mean EVERYONE - we’ll dig into that a little more with the Acts texts. And -
2. Baptizing children of God - claiming them by and for Love as God’s beloved child, and welcoming them into the community of faith
I hope, by the end of this sermon, you are just as hyped as I am for the loving and inclusive Kingdom of God that God paints for us in the Scriptures today and that we got to glimpse in the act of Baptism today.
So let’s start by going back to the basics of some of what happens in Baptism. For some this may be a refresher and still for others, you may hear it for the first time or with new ears.
In baptism, we are adopted into God’s family. Every child, every person, on this earth, is already a child of God and already loved by God. In Baptism, we formalize that adoption and celebrate that love. As an adult, that person makes a public statement of their faith, accepting that they are loved by God and promising to serve God. When we baptize children, parents make promises on behalf of their child - that one day, if they so choose, they can accept for themselves. And the parents promise, to the best of their ability, to raise their child to know the God who is Love. So we have God making a promise in Baptism: You are my child and I love you. We have the baptized or parents of the baptized making a promise: I will follow God and/or I will raise this child to know God. And then the congregation also makes a promise on behalf of all Christian communities: We will love this person, we will show them Jesus through our love, and we will accept them into the family of God, the Church.
For as we are all children of God, the Church as a whole is a reflection of God’s family. And this congregation, we are a microcosm of God’s greater worldwide and universal family. One of the vows we make in our baptism is this: that we “confess Jesus Christ as our Savior, put our whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as our Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races.”
And so, phrased another way, we recognize that the family of God, the Kingdom or Kin-dom of God, has people in it of all ages, nations, and races in it. When we baptize a child of God, we are saying, welcome to a beautifully diverse and inclusive family. You, no matter who you are, you belong here.
And it’s even more beautiful, diverse, and inclusive than our baptismal liturgy lets on. While our liturgy specifically states all ages, nations, and races being included in the Church, in the family of God, our list is much shorter than the Holy Spirit’s work, because the work of the Holy Spirit is always reaching out to all and widening the circle of God’s love. So Christ has opened the Church to people of all ages, nations, and races...and genders (in Christ there is no male or female), classes, sexualities, abilities, etc., etc - there is no marker, no one group or person that Christ would exclude from His Church if that person wanted to belong to it. Christ has already decided on ALL. Sometimes we just have to catch up with the Spirit. When I went to seminary in the South a common bumper sticker on the cars of my classmates was “Y’all means all.” And when it comes to who the Holy Spirit offers the love and grace of God to - y’all truly means all.
As God has opened the Church, the Family of God, up to all who wish to know the love of God - to love God and love neighbor as ourselves. So are we called, through our Baptisms, to extend that love to ALL too. Our Scripture from 1 John today starts, “Beloved, let us love one another.” And it goes on eloquently, speaking of love as a Christian - the love God has for us and the love we are to have for one another. Let me lift up a few lines to you:
“God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”
“Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”
It is easy to accept the little children we baptize as beloved children of God. Innocent and sweet and so very cute. Children in which we can see our own children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. It is easy to love the infants we baptize, to welcome them into our family, into God’s family.
And here is the challenge, friends, fellow Children of God, siblings in Christ - it is harder to imagine those we fear in the place of these children, being baptized, shown God’s unconditional all-inclusive love, and welcomed into our family, the family of God. Because if we’re being honest - there are always those we may fear. Our political climate thrives off of us fearing one another. We may fear those who have a different race or ethnicity than us. A different citizenship status. A different sexual or gender identity. A different social class. Or belonging to a different political ideology. We may fear whoever the new bogeyman of the week is according to the news channel we watch. Whoever is deemed “the other.”
But if we fear another person - we do not love them, for perfect love casts out fear. Fear keeps us from love - love of our fellow siblings in Christ, our fellow beloved children of God - and fear of “the other” also keeps us from love of God. In a line that always challenges and convicts me, Christian-Catholic activist Dorothy Day put it like this, “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.” I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least…it’s basically a paraphrase of our passage from 1 John today and it should challenge and convict us.
With this in mind, let us now turn to our reading from Acts. We have today the story of the Baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch.
The Ethiopian eunuch is traveling home from Jerusalem while reading a scroll from the book of Isaiah. Phillip feels a nudge from the Spirit to go talk to them. So Phillip runs alongside the chariot and gets invited in, and as they pour over the scroll together, Phillip tells this person, tells the Ethiopian Eunuch about Jesus, about all that has transpired, about his death and resurrection.
I’m going to use “they” as the singular pronoun for the Ethiopian eunuch because eunuchs, as one commentator put it: “Eunuchs did not fit conventional notions of gender in the Roman world. They were simultaneously men and nonmen, neither male nor female. Sexually impotent, they were powerless and thus often scorned according to Roman constructions of masculinity and virility.” In other words, eunuchs did not fit the binary of man or woman. In today’s world, people who do not fit the binary often use the pronouns they/them/their to describe themselves. As a woman I use the pronouns she/her/hers. A man would use he/him/his. The most common pronouns for an individual who says they do not fit into either of those camps is they/them/theirs - singular. I am going on this tangent about pronouns, not just to explain why I am using they to refer to the person in today’s Bible story, but because I think a lot of people have some fear around the concept of sharing pronouns or those people who are trans- or non-binary and use different pronouns than would have been assigned to them based on sex at birth. But if this is something you struggle to understand or causes fear in you - the answer is simple, as told to us from 1 John: Love. Love drives out fear and fear keeps us from loving God. If there is fear due to not understanding or even misinformation given to us from popular news sources, we have to interrogate that fear and meet it instead with Love - the Love that comes from God.
One way we can show that love is if someone you know asks to go by they or asks you to use different pronouns than you used to use or expected them to use - it’s really really important to use the pronouns they ask you to. A recent study shows that 1 in 6 Gen Z adults are LGBTQ. On top of that 25% of today’s LGBTQ youth use non-binary pronouns. Research shows that the suicide risk decreases by 50% for youth when those close to them use their correct and preferred pronouns. That’s right - you can reduce the risk of suicide by HALF for a youth, just by calling them by what they have asked to be called. And if you ignore their request, it actually increases their risk for an attempted suicide. Moreover, when we respect someone by referring to them how they want to be referred to and by calling them by the name they want to go by, we are showing them Christ’s love through our words and actions.
The Ethiopian Eunuch would have been considered an outsider, or someone that might be feared, for other reasons too. As an Ethiopian, literally meaning “burnt face” in Greek, they would have been viewed as an outsider to the Greco-Roman world. The text said they went to Jerusalem to worship but there is a question as to whether they would have been considered as a Jew or Gentile, or a “god-fearer” - those who admired the Jewish God but were not converts for a variety of reasons.
In general, they had ambiguity of character. Everything from their gender to their ethnicity to their religion is liminal. In essence they represent, as one commentator put it, “surprise, subversion, and expanse.” They are not who the early church disciples would have pictured as being welcomed into the family of God.
And nonetheless, thanks to the Spirit’s leading, Philip is sharing the story of Jesus with the Ethiopian eunuch, and their response to Phillip is this: "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?"
Phillip could have come up with a lot of reasons: your gender, your status as a Eunuch, you being Ethiopian - a different race and ethnicity. You being a Gentile. Phillip could have said, “this is not for you.” or “You wouldn’t quite fit in with us.” But instead, Phillip and the Eunuch go down into the water, and Phillip, led by the ever inclusive Spirit, baptizes them into the family of God. In essence saying, “God loves you. I love you. You are a child of God. You are my sibling in Christ. Welcome to the Church.”
Now...the goal today is not to exoticize the Ethiopian eunuch or “other” those today who would be of a different gender, race, or status than we’d expect to be Christians...the goal today is to hear the Ethiopian eunuch shown the love of God, be baptized, be welcomed into the family of God - and then to hold up a mirror to us:
Are we still allowing the story of Jesus to reach those who, to many in the church, would represent surprise, subversion, and expanse? Are we allowing the story of Jesus to break down our walls of division, our prejudices, our stigmas, or preconceived notions? Are we allowing the love of God to drive out any and all fear we have of our fellow siblings in Christ? Are we joining the Holy Spirit in building a church that is beautifully inclusive, diverse, and loving? Are we loving all as we love the infant we baptized today?
Friends, at the start of this sermon I told you that I hoped at the end of this sermon you’d be as excited as me to share the Good News of God’s love for all God’s children. To be hyped about the image of God’s Kingdom, God’s Kin-dom, that is painted for us in our Scriptures today and that we get to catch a glimpse of everytime we baptize a child… Like me, you may also be challenged and convicted, to confront our fears with love, to stretch ourselves to better love each other, to let God’s perfect love drive out fear…
But may that also excite you. May it excite us all. Cause there is nothing better in this world than getting to share God’s love with all God’s children and claiming each and every beloved child of God through the waters of Baptism.
May it be so. Amen.
And so, phrased another way, we recognize that the family of God, the Kingdom or Kin-dom of God, has people in it of all ages, nations, and races in it. When we baptize a child of God, we are saying, welcome to a beautifully diverse and inclusive family. You, no matter who you are, you belong here.
And it’s even more beautiful, diverse, and inclusive than our baptismal liturgy lets on. While our liturgy specifically states all ages, nations, and races being included in the Church, in the family of God, our list is much shorter than the Holy Spirit’s work, because the work of the Holy Spirit is always reaching out to all and widening the circle of God’s love. So Christ has opened the Church to people of all ages, nations, and races...and genders (in Christ there is no male or female), classes, sexualities, abilities, etc., etc - there is no marker, no one group or person that Christ would exclude from His Church if that person wanted to belong to it. Christ has already decided on ALL. Sometimes we just have to catch up with the Spirit. When I went to seminary in the South a common bumper sticker on the cars of my classmates was “Y’all means all.” And when it comes to who the Holy Spirit offers the love and grace of God to - y’all truly means all.
As God has opened the Church, the Family of God, up to all who wish to know the love of God - to love God and love neighbor as ourselves. So are we called, through our Baptisms, to extend that love to ALL too. Our Scripture from 1 John today starts, “Beloved, let us love one another.” And it goes on eloquently, speaking of love as a Christian - the love God has for us and the love we are to have for one another. Let me lift up a few lines to you:
“God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”
“Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”
It is easy to accept the little children we baptize as beloved children of God. Innocent and sweet and so very cute. Children in which we can see our own children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. It is easy to love the infants we baptize, to welcome them into our family, into God’s family.
And here is the challenge, friends, fellow Children of God, siblings in Christ - it is harder to imagine those we fear in the place of these children, being baptized, shown God’s unconditional all-inclusive love, and welcomed into our family, the family of God. Because if we’re being honest - there are always those we may fear. Our political climate thrives off of us fearing one another. We may fear those who have a different race or ethnicity than us. A different citizenship status. A different sexual or gender identity. A different social class. Or belonging to a different political ideology. We may fear whoever the new bogeyman of the week is according to the news channel we watch. Whoever is deemed “the other.”
But if we fear another person - we do not love them, for perfect love casts out fear. Fear keeps us from love - love of our fellow siblings in Christ, our fellow beloved children of God - and fear of “the other” also keeps us from love of God. In a line that always challenges and convicts me, Christian-Catholic activist Dorothy Day put it like this, “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.” I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least…it’s basically a paraphrase of our passage from 1 John today and it should challenge and convict us.
With this in mind, let us now turn to our reading from Acts. We have today the story of the Baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch.
The Ethiopian eunuch is traveling home from Jerusalem while reading a scroll from the book of Isaiah. Phillip feels a nudge from the Spirit to go talk to them. So Phillip runs alongside the chariot and gets invited in, and as they pour over the scroll together, Phillip tells this person, tells the Ethiopian Eunuch about Jesus, about all that has transpired, about his death and resurrection.
I’m going to use “they” as the singular pronoun for the Ethiopian eunuch because eunuchs, as one commentator put it: “Eunuchs did not fit conventional notions of gender in the Roman world. They were simultaneously men and nonmen, neither male nor female. Sexually impotent, they were powerless and thus often scorned according to Roman constructions of masculinity and virility.” In other words, eunuchs did not fit the binary of man or woman. In today’s world, people who do not fit the binary often use the pronouns they/them/their to describe themselves. As a woman I use the pronouns she/her/hers. A man would use he/him/his. The most common pronouns for an individual who says they do not fit into either of those camps is they/them/theirs - singular. I am going on this tangent about pronouns, not just to explain why I am using they to refer to the person in today’s Bible story, but because I think a lot of people have some fear around the concept of sharing pronouns or those people who are trans- or non-binary and use different pronouns than would have been assigned to them based on sex at birth. But if this is something you struggle to understand or causes fear in you - the answer is simple, as told to us from 1 John: Love. Love drives out fear and fear keeps us from loving God. If there is fear due to not understanding or even misinformation given to us from popular news sources, we have to interrogate that fear and meet it instead with Love - the Love that comes from God.
One way we can show that love is if someone you know asks to go by they or asks you to use different pronouns than you used to use or expected them to use - it’s really really important to use the pronouns they ask you to. A recent study shows that 1 in 6 Gen Z adults are LGBTQ. On top of that 25% of today’s LGBTQ youth use non-binary pronouns. Research shows that the suicide risk decreases by 50% for youth when those close to them use their correct and preferred pronouns. That’s right - you can reduce the risk of suicide by HALF for a youth, just by calling them by what they have asked to be called. And if you ignore their request, it actually increases their risk for an attempted suicide. Moreover, when we respect someone by referring to them how they want to be referred to and by calling them by the name they want to go by, we are showing them Christ’s love through our words and actions.
The Ethiopian Eunuch would have been considered an outsider, or someone that might be feared, for other reasons too. As an Ethiopian, literally meaning “burnt face” in Greek, they would have been viewed as an outsider to the Greco-Roman world. The text said they went to Jerusalem to worship but there is a question as to whether they would have been considered as a Jew or Gentile, or a “god-fearer” - those who admired the Jewish God but were not converts for a variety of reasons.
In general, they had ambiguity of character. Everything from their gender to their ethnicity to their religion is liminal. In essence they represent, as one commentator put it, “surprise, subversion, and expanse.” They are not who the early church disciples would have pictured as being welcomed into the family of God.
And nonetheless, thanks to the Spirit’s leading, Philip is sharing the story of Jesus with the Ethiopian eunuch, and their response to Phillip is this: "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?"
Phillip could have come up with a lot of reasons: your gender, your status as a Eunuch, you being Ethiopian - a different race and ethnicity. You being a Gentile. Phillip could have said, “this is not for you.” or “You wouldn’t quite fit in with us.” But instead, Phillip and the Eunuch go down into the water, and Phillip, led by the ever inclusive Spirit, baptizes them into the family of God. In essence saying, “God loves you. I love you. You are a child of God. You are my sibling in Christ. Welcome to the Church.”
Now...the goal today is not to exoticize the Ethiopian eunuch or “other” those today who would be of a different gender, race, or status than we’d expect to be Christians...the goal today is to hear the Ethiopian eunuch shown the love of God, be baptized, be welcomed into the family of God - and then to hold up a mirror to us:
Are we still allowing the story of Jesus to reach those who, to many in the church, would represent surprise, subversion, and expanse? Are we allowing the story of Jesus to break down our walls of division, our prejudices, our stigmas, or preconceived notions? Are we allowing the love of God to drive out any and all fear we have of our fellow siblings in Christ? Are we joining the Holy Spirit in building a church that is beautifully inclusive, diverse, and loving? Are we loving all as we love the infant we baptized today?
Friends, at the start of this sermon I told you that I hoped at the end of this sermon you’d be as excited as me to share the Good News of God’s love for all God’s children. To be hyped about the image of God’s Kingdom, God’s Kin-dom, that is painted for us in our Scriptures today and that we get to catch a glimpse of everytime we baptize a child… Like me, you may also be challenged and convicted, to confront our fears with love, to stretch ourselves to better love each other, to let God’s perfect love drive out fear…
But may that also excite you. May it excite us all. Cause there is nothing better in this world than getting to share God’s love with all God’s children and claiming each and every beloved child of God through the waters of Baptism.
May it be so. Amen.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Call to Worship based on 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
Leader: May we believe.
People: In Jesus who was raised from the dead.
L: May we speak.
P: Sharing the Good News of the God who is Love.
L: May we extend Grace.
P: So that more and more people may come to know Love.
L: May we worship today, not losing heart, and holding on to hope.
All: To God be the Glory! Amen.
People: In Jesus who was raised from the dead.
L: May we speak.
P: Sharing the Good News of the God who is Love.
L: May we extend Grace.
P: So that more and more people may come to know Love.
L: May we worship today, not losing heart, and holding on to hope.
All: To God be the Glory! Amen.
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