"What Does Your Soul Long For?" a sermon on Psalm 42-43

Psalm 42 - 43
“What Does Your Soul Long For?”
Preached Sunday, June 19, 2022

What does your soul long for?

Asking yourself this question is part of adopting a breath prayer, as it was taught to me. A breath prayer is a way of praying through breathing. There are many ways to go about doing a breath prayer and the way I was first taught was something like this:

Shut your eyes or still your mind.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Picture yourself in a safe and sacred place. For me it would be Camp Asbury, perhaps for many of you it is right where you are, the shores of Lake Erie, or maybe curled up in a favorite chair in your home - wherever it is, bring that place into mind and the safety, comfort, and sacredness it brings with it.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Hear God saying your name. Hear the voice of God, ringing in your ears, your heart, mind, and soul - calling you by name.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Now hear God’s voice saying to you, asking you by name, “What do you want? What does your soul long for?”
“Allison, what do you want? What does your soul long for?”

Breathe in, breathe out.

Let the answer well up within you, perhaps from a place that feels tender, vulnerable, a place beneath all the noise of this world - what, beneath it all, in the depths of your soul, what do you want?

Breathe in, breathe out.

Now, think of your favorite or go to name for God, say that name as you breathe in…and as you breathe out, pray for the deep longing of your soul.

Lord, give me peace.
God, help me feel your love.
Jesus, make me whole.

Whatever your prayer is, pray it in rhythm with your breath…breathing in and breathing out…

Breathe in, breathe out.

Let’s gather our attention back to the present, pulling it back out from deep within us and focusing on the present and our surroundings. This method that we shared is one of the ways to form a breath prayer. Once you have a breath prayer you can always carry it with you. You can do it in the middle of a work day, in a crowded space, at the breakfast table over coffee or tea. You can do it walking or hiking, at night right before you fall asleep - any time and everytime you find yourself paying attention to your breath, you can turn that breathing into prayer. You can pray the same prayer as long as it feels right or true - until one day, you may find that prayer was answered or you may find your soul is now longing for something else that needs named before God.

So what is it that your soul longs for? I asked this question on social media this week and the replies came pouring in. Now, first of all, I think some people mistook their stomach for their souls as funyuns and pizza were among the answers…But as for the soul, here’s what the more serious answers were: What does your soul long for?

Calm
Order
Creativity
Rest
Peace
Security
Warmth
Novelty
Engagement
Stillness
Connection
Wholeness
Goodness
Shalom
Justice
Balance
Love
Community
Unity
Belonging
Forgiveness
Mutuality
Deep breaths
Strength
Hope

So those here worshiping with us today, what does your soul long for? Did you hear the desire of your soul on that list? Or is yours something else, calling out from within you? When I read what people wanted, what they longed for, beneath everything else: I heard God. It all boils down to the God who is Love. The God who accepts us. The God who brings us into relationship and community. The God who gives us rest. The God who is the Prince of Peace. The God who calms the storms of the sea and our hearts. Every answer that was given boils down to that our souls long for God and all that God is.

The Psalmist, mostly likely King David as it’s from his point of view, the Psalmist says as much in the opening lines of our Psalm from this morning:

“As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”

I can’t say or read that line from Scripture without thinking of the hymn: “As the deer longs for the water so my soul longs after you. You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship you.”

“You alone are my heart’s desire.” You alone. We had a long list of things that our heart’s and soul’s desire - and they all come down to God. The God of peace, community, safety, wholeness…The God of Love.

And I want to point out that to say that God is the desire of our souls is far from a trite platitude. It’s not a happy face Christian-ese saying that attempts to brush the reality of our pain and the pain of this world under the rug. The next lines in the Psalm are “When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, “where is your God?”

Other lines in the psalm include “Why are you cast down, O my soul and why are you disquieted within me?” and “I say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me?”
The Psalmist is wrestling with tears, sadness, enemies, fear, violence, feeling forsaken - adversaries from within and without.

Maybe we can relate to that. In our world today there is tragedy, evil, violence, injustice…It’s easy to look around and wonder where God is. Perhaps we’ve been asked by those in our lives who wonder how or why we believe in God, asked the same question King David was asked, “Where is your God?”

And then inside of us, there is depression and anxiety. Doubt and fear. Reacting to the world around us. Depression and anxiety are at extremely high levels in our society - both studies and anecdotal evidence shows that anxiety is setting in at younger and younger ages in our children. Elementary school aged children are having panic attacks. And it makes sense when they practice active shooter drills, being told their lives depend on a locked door and not making any noise. When they see a virus rip through families and communities. When they hear our hateful and divided rhetoric in our country and world. We see the anxiety in our children and in ourselves and we may ask, “My God, why have you forsaken me?”

To say that God is the only desire of our souls is not to dismiss this - it is a life vest in a sea of storms, rest in a busy world, a steady light as the darkness tries to overcome. Even as the Psalmist says he is subsisting, surviving off of tears and looking for God, he is reminding himself of God’s goodness and God’s promise.

“Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.”
“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me.”
“O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.”

To say that God is the desire of our souls, among all the strife within and without, is to give us an anchor, a stronghold. It is an invitation to breathe, to center ourselves, and let our breath be a prayer.

To remember that in our baptismal vows in which God claimed us as God’s children, we vowed to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves. That through the gift of the Holy Spirit, our efforts for good and against evil are not futile. With God’s help, we are a force of Good in this world.

And it is also a call to care for ourselves, including seeking mental health care for our anxiety and depression and whatever else ails our hearts, mind, and souls - just as we seek care for our bodies. To love God and neighbor as self includes loving self. God is all our souls long for…and we can have Jesus and a therapist. Amen to that? Amen. Part of finding the wholeness in God that we long for involves holistic care of our lives.

To say that the desire of our souls is God is also an invitation to remember God’s glory and all that God has already done for us - all the ways that God has met and is actively meeting the desires of our souls - as King David remembers how he poured himself out to God with glad shouts and thanksgivings and dancing as the arc was brought into the temple.

To stop and breathe, to acknowledge the longings of our souls before God, is a protection against helplessness. It keeps us from being stuck in a downward spiral of cynicism and hopelessness - one that so many in our world fall into.

So today and every day, let us breathe and let us pray.
Even if our prayers are tears. Even if our prayers are saying to God ‘Why have you forsaken me?”
Or even if your prayers are only your breath because you just can’t bring yourself to talk to God - those are all still prayers heard by God.
God is there in our breath, God is there, meeting the desires of our soul with God’s holy presence, God is there. So let us breathe and say, “As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you. You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship you.”

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Amen.

"How Majestic is Your Name" a sermon on Psalm 8

Psalm 8
“How Majestic Is Your Name”
Preached Sunday, June 12, 2022

At Grace we have 4 named values, of course we have many things that we hold close to our hearts that we share with one another, flames that we kindle as we seek to live out our Christian faith together. AND, we have four named values as a church, those which we share and lift up together. And one of those values, our most esoteric value is “Beauty through Wonder.” We define this value as “We worship and praise Christ in God’s earthly creation.” This value has its roots in how fundamental Worship by the Water is for us, our identity, and our faith, here at Vermilion Grace.

But of course, as I said, it’s also kind of esoteric, kind of “woo,” out there, hard to pin down - AND today is Trinity Sunday - which is perhaps the most, uhh, esoteric, kind of “woo,” out there, hard to pin down piece of doctrine that we hold as Christians. The joke that preachers tell each other every year as Trinity Sunday approaches is that maybe we should just do a hymn sing - cause preaching on Trinity Sunday can be a heresy minefield. I seriously thought about a hymn sing…but here I am preaching. But I’ll do my best to not commit any heresies while preaching…

Because the Trinity isn't meant to be explained. It’s a mystery. It’s something beautiful and divine and “woo” and out there and beyond logical explanation and it’s meant to be wondered, marveled, contemplated, and awed at. Not explained away or diagrammed. So in that Spirit, let’s turn to our Scripture for today:

Today’s Psalm is a song of wonder at God for the beauty and love imbued in God’s creation. The refrain for the Psalm is “O Lord, Our Sovereign, how majestic is Your Name in all the Earth!” The Psalmist wonders at how God is reflected through the natural world. God, who is the Creator of the universe, has left God’s fingerprints everywhere over all creation. I think of it like God as the potter, creation is the clay, and God has left fingerprints over all of us - but it’s not an imperfection - the pot, God’s creation, is even more beautiful for having been created and shaped by God.

God’s fingerprints are everywhere in creation and the Psalmist sings about this - in the heavens, the moon and the stars, in the oxen and beasts of the field, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea - even human beings.

And today, outside, here at Worship by the Water, on the beautiful shores of Lake Erie, we join the Psalmist in marveling at God’s fingerprints all over our creation - at the clouds and the skies - the birds, Robins and Herons and bald eagles, perhaps you will see some fish jumping out the lake, the breeze as it rustles through the trees - what a beautiful world, thank you God!

“O Lord how Majestic is your name in all the Earth!”

…And what is that name? The name of God, as far as we can know it, is the name of Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And the fingerprints of God are the presence of the Trinity in our world.

We are used to thinking of just God the Father (or Mother or Parent, the Godhead), as the Creator - we’re used to this imagery of God the Father, the Sovereign King, the Creator of the Universe.

The God who spoke and it was.
The God who formed humanity out of dirt and breathed into us the breath of life - gracing us with the fingerprints of God.

I think of one of my favorite hymns, “This Is My Father’s World.”

“This is my Father's world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
his hand the wonders wrought.”

Truly - God the Father’s fingerprints are all over creation. Our God, Our Sovereign, Our Father, our Creator, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

AND, the other persons of the Trinity are also all over creation - their fingerprints showing from their hand in creation. All members of the Trinity were active in creating and they are reflected back to us through it.

Consider the prologue of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” The Word here is Jesus. In the Beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with God and Jesus was God. Jesus was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Jesus, and without Jesus not one thing came into being.

Jesus is at the center of creation AND all things came into being through him, including us. And we also have a belief in our faith called “imago dei” - it means, the image of God. Think of Genesis where God says “Let us make them in our image.” And I’m not saying that God has a body like ours, two eyes, and two ears, and a nose and mouth and all that…What I am saying is there is something inside of us, something innate to how we were made and who we are - many call it a soul or our capacity for love - that reflects God, the God who is Love, in us.

And God in Jesus DID come and take on flesh, the Divine as fully human, the one who through all things came into being, was and is one of us, Emmanuel, God-With-Us. Jesus had hands and feet…and now we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to be God to each other - to reflect the God inside of us to the world.

Can we marvel at that? Can we see the beauty of God in each other? After all, we are God’s creation too - we were created by God and called very good, the crown of God’s creation!

O God, Jesus, The Word, our Brother, Creator, how majestic is your name in all the Earth!

And then there is the Spirit. One of my favorite images in all of Scripture comes from the first chapter in Genesis where it says that God’s wind swept across the darkness and chaos and creation began. I’ve said before that one of my sacred places is Camp Asbury. And at Camp there is a small lake there, Lake Hibbard, and early in the morning, while the air is cool but the lake is warmer, mist hovers over the water. Have any of you ever seen something like that before? To me, that mist represents the same Spirit that hovered over the deep as one of the first acts of creation.

So too in the act of Creation when God breathed the breath of life into us, that breath was the Holy Spirit. We are always with the very God who is our breath.

And at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came in the form of tongues of fire.

Let us marvel and wonder at the Holy Spirit! Wind and mist and breathe and fire - the Holy Spirit is a force of Divine nature within and around us, her fingerprints over us and all of creation.

Our God, Holy Spirit, Breath and Mist and Wind and Fire and Creator - How majestic is your name in all the earth!

Yes, we marvel and wonder at the mystery of Trinity and how we see it displayed and all around us in the beauty of creation. And what isn’t a mystery, is our call to be God stewards of God’s creation. If God’s fingerprints are all over this earthly world and over each other and all of humanity, we are called to loving stewardship and loving care for our world. As God cares for us, we are called to care for all that God has created. This is not a harsh dominion or subjugation of the created world - as many have taken it and abused our place in the ordered creation - but to be good, faithful stewards of our world for the wonder and glory of all. So that all creation may continue to wonder at the beautiful mystery of the Divine Creator - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - in all creation.

O Triune God, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Amen.

"Children of God" a sermon on Romans 8:14-17

Romans 8:14-17
“Children of God”
Preached Sunday, June 5, 2022

If there is one thing I’d want our confirmands to know.
If there is one thing I’d want my own child to know.
If there is one thing I’d want everyone here to know.
If there is one thing I’d want everyone alive to know…it is this:

You are a child of God.

Turn to the person next to you and tell them: “You are a child of God.”
You are a child of God.

Repeat after me:
I am a child of God.
I am a child of God.

Good. You all know it. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Okay, not quite done yet - but it will be a short sermon today cause we’re going to reaffirm that two young men are children of God through the rite of confirmation today.

And we are going to reaffirm that we are all children of God through the sacrament of Holy Communion.
That these young men and each and every person here is a child of God and if a child of God than heirs WITH Christ, adopted by the Holy Spirit. And it is through that Spirit of Adoption that each of us has the right to to call God, the Creator of all the Universe: Abba! Father! Mother! Divine Parent. And we are loved by God the Creator of the Universe as a parent loves their child.

For today is the day of Pentecost - the traditional day for confirmations in the Church - the day we remember how the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples and to all of us. That, following Jesus’s ascension, the disciples were gathered together and the sound of rush of wind came upon them and tongues of flame landed on them and they went out on the street and preached about Jesus and all that were gathered heard them speaking in their own native tongues and that day many came to know Jesus and accept their adoption as children of God.

And that same Holy Spirit is the Spirit given to us. The Spirit that IS a member of the Divine unbreakable Trinity. Before Jesus ascended he promised he would be with us always: and he is through the gift of the Holy Spirit. God who is wind and fire and presence and breath. We always say that the Spirit is never farther from us than our next breath. God is WITH us always, claiming us as beloved children of God as Paul talks about in our reading from Romans today.

And the 8th Chapter of Romans might just be my favorite chapter in all of Scripture. Later on in the chapter from today’s reading we get this passage of Scripture:

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God is with us always through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit gives us a spirit of adoption, making us children of God along with Jesus.
And because we are children of God along with Jesus there is nothing, literally nothing, that can separate us from the love of God.

When we baptize children, we claim the title of Children of God for them.
At confirmation, they claim “Child of God” for themselves.
Today we get to celebrate that, affirm that they are beloved children, and remember our own belovedness as children of God through affirming them and through Holy Communion.

When I give Communion to children I say “God loves you very much” as I give them the bread and the cup.
For adults I say “The Body and Blood of Christ.”
And really, it’s the same thing: when we take Communion, we remember how much Christ loves us. That he gave all of himself for us, and as children of God and joint heirs with Christ, we share in his death and resurrection - Holy Communion being a powerful reminder of that.

So today in multiple ways, we will tell each other and remind ourselves that we are all children of God.

Turn to the person next to you and tell them: “You are a child of God.”
You are a child of God.

Repeat after me:
I am a child of God.
I am a child of God.

Good. You all know it. Thanks be to God. Amen.

The Great Thanksgiving for Pentecost, inspired by Romans 8:14-17

The Great Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right and a good and joyful thing. Therefore, Almighty God, with thankful hearts we praise you for the amazing love, grace, and forgiveness you gave to us through Jesus Christ. We thank you for giving us a spirit of adoption.

It is by that Spirit that we proclaim that The Christ, God incarnate, came to this earth out of love for us. He died and on the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven. And gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit who is always with us.

And so we remember, on the night before he was betrayed and killed by the state, he was gathered together with his disciples at a table like this, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said:

"Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you,
do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over, he took the cup, blessed it, gave it to his disciples and said:

"Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the New Covenant,
poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

Holy, Loving God, pour out your Spirit on us gathered here,
And on these gifts of bread and juice.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ
That we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed and reconciling.

Through your Son Jesus Christ,
With the Holy Spirit in your holy church,
All honor and glory is yours, almighty God,
Now and forever, Amen.

Call to Worship based on Romans 8:14-17

L: We are led by the Holy Spirit.
P: For we are children of God.
L: With a spirit of adoption we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
P: For we are children of God.
L: And if children, then heirs along with Christ.
P: For we are children of God.
L: With Christ we suffer, with Christ we are glorified.
P: For we are children of God.
L: And so we worship God, our loving Parent.
P: For we are children of God.
All: Let all God’s children say: Amen.

"Now What?" a sermon on Acts 1:1-11

Acts 1:1-11
“Now What?”
Preached Sunday, May 29, 2022

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. When your life as you know changes.

There are the “now what’s” Of divorce. Of a diagnosis. Of the death of a loved one. Of tragedies. Of violence - like that at a Supermarket in Buffalo. And an elementary school in Ulveda.

These now what’s - especially after death and tragedy - these now what’s are painful and agonizing. They are not asked because the future is wide open - they are asked because you can’t see a way forward, you can’t see a future, you don’t know how life is supposed to continue after this.

My heart is broken and keeps on breaking open for all those parents and families who are currently asking “now what?” after the senseless murder of their children.

My voice keeps on echoing theirs: Now what? How long, O Lord, how long…

We’ll come back to this.

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 I said our 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 go on the offensive. To do something. And to do it right and to do it big.

And what was that what?

Jesus told them what “the what” was.

Acts 1:8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” These are Jesus’s final instructions, his parting words to his disciples. A variation of these parting words, what we know as The Great Commission, is in 3 out of the 4 Gospels too.

Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Mark 16:15: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.”

Luke 24:46-48: “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

Every Gospel writer was writing to a slightly different audience - a slightly different “now” but their what’s are all basically the same. So to summarize these 4 Scriptures I am going to morph them together. Our WHAT is: With the help of the Holy Spirit, we are to be witnesses of the Good News of Jesus Christ: of his call to repentance, his forgiveness of sins, his teachings of love, his conquering of death. We are witnesses TO ALL through our proclamations, our actions, all we say and do.

THIS was the disciples' WHAT.
And THIS is our WHAT.

The United Methodist church sums up this “what” in our mission: to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Grace United Methodist Church sums it up with our mission: to invite all into a joyous and caring Christian community.

They are different turns of phrases that respond to different contexts, different “nows,” but they are all part of The Great Commission that Jesus gave to his disciples at his ascension and has been handed down to us today.

Our Bishop Tracy Smith Malone always says “keep the main thing, the main thing.” THIS is the main thing: to be witnesses for Jesus.

The disciples lived in a unique period in history. That shaped how they lived out the “what” - and we can read all about it in the rest of the book of Acts.

And we too live in a unique time in history - for better and for worse. And I know that a lot of us today are asking, “Now what?”

Now what - for our lives. Whatever stage of life and whatever situation you find yourself in.

Now what - for the Church. Maybe it’s the ongoing separation of some churches in the United Methodist Church. For the record, Grace isn’t going anywhere. Or maybe it’s just the decline of churches and religiosity in this country that’s worrying you.

Now what - for our world. Especially in light of the war in Ukraine. Or possibly how to deal with the ongoing Covid pandemic.

And I know today, a deep and heavy “now what” for our country. And this country's children as we all reel from the senseless violence that was the murder of elementary school students at the hands of a man, barely a man, 18 years old, and filled with hate and rage - almost still a kid himself - armed with AR-style rifles.

Now what?

The “what” hasn’t changed.
The “now” has.

And we need to adapt and live out the “what” according to our “now.” Now more than ever.

I would like to read an excerpt from a letter written by Bishop Bickerson, the President of the Council of Bishops, on behalf of The United Methodist Council of Bishops. The excerpt is a little long, a small part of his words to us. And I believe they are important for us to hear today:

“My outrage and anger demand a statement, but my love of people demands action.
I spend my life thinking about people. I am a person of prayer. But this cycle of violence has reached a point where there are no words good enough, no statement that meets the need, no thought that will salve the wound and heal the hurt.

I believe that we must, with conviction, determine how we are going to move from words to actions. We have to find a way to keep these stories on the front page of our consciousness and let nothing detract from our commitment to curb violence, fight for justice, end systemic racism, elect politicians with courage, deeply listen to those who have been harmed, and genuinely seek the power of the Holy Spirit to lift us from this posture of paralysis into a mode of action that does not deny the need for thoughts and prayers but realizes that there is a need for more, so much more.

We have to come to terms with how we are going to fix this. We absolutely have done nothing different and, as a result, the cycle of violence and the denial of human life just continues. We are paralyzed into a posture of inactivity that only allows the same story and the same response to happen over and over again. And as a result, we live our lives on the defense, always reacting to something that has already taken place around us.

My “statement” today is quite simple: Let’s go on the offense. If you are a pastor, weave our theology of a lived-out faith into sermons that challenge people to convert their fears, angers, racist tendencies, and complicit behaviors into a mobilized witness of the power of God to do far more than we could ever dream of or imagine. If you are a lay person, determine today how you will take the faith you nurture each week in a pew to the streets, the places where you work, and the homes where you live. If you are a church body, don’t settle for just active shooter training.

Determine that you will actively work to transform lives from violence to peace, elect officials that will not settle for inaction, and inject communities with the grace and love of Christ that will alter the course of our current behaviors.

Let’s go on the offense today and play whatever role we can to change the cycle of violence, end racism and other behaviors that treat people less than they were created to be, and create a narrative that will compel people to live a life with a heart of peace…

…The call today is for every United Methodist Christian to go on the offense, stating what we believe the power of God can do in our midst, opening ourselves to [the] power of God at work within us, and doing whatever we can to alter the current course of behavior once and for all.”

End quote.

The disciples after Jesus’s ascension were compelled to ACT. They moved from defense, reacting to what was happening, to offense - being leaders in a movement - living out the WHAT of the Great Commission, being witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ. They were the ones who, with the help of the Holy Spirit, were witnesses of the Good News of Jesus Christ: of his call to repentance, his forgiveness of sins, his teachings of love, his conquering of death. They were witnesses TO ALL through their proclamations, their actions, all that they said and did. And look at what they said and did. We are here today because of them. The world has been changed because of them.

And today we need to do the same. We need to stop thinking that someone else is going to make this world a better place. That someone else will be moved to act. That someone else is going to make it all right. Friends, WE are the ones who have been called to be witnesses to the Good News. WE are the ones who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. WE are the ones who are the hands and feet of Christ in this world. WE need to move to the offense: to be witnesses of the Good News, of Jesus - of a radical way of life and peace and repentance and forgiveness - something the likes of which our world has never seen before in our NOW.

Our time is NOW.

Our “what” is to radically be witnesses of the transforming love and life of Jesus in this world - until that day when the “now” is God’s realm of peace - when children will fear bullets no more. When weapons will be beaten into plowshares. When the lion lies down with the lamb. And all the world will be in the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace, whose reign shall have no end.

Amen. 

Hymn Sing for United Methodist Heritage Sunday/Aldersgate Day

The following is a hymn sing designed for Heritage Sunday/Aldersgate Day in the United Methodist Church.

Call to Worship, Methodists as a Singing People (See UMH vii for reference)

L: As Methodists, we have been called “A Singing People”
P: We love singing praises to God - it warm our hearts,
L: In his Directions for Singing, found in the United Methodist hymnal, John Wesley encourages us to learn the hymns in the hymnal before all other songs.
P: He says that we should all sing together as frequently as we can! That even for those who find it a cross to bear, singing will be a blessing.
L: He says we should sing lustily and with good courage and to beware of singing as if we were half dead or half asleep.
P: We lift up our voices in strength! We strive to unite our voices together to make one clear melodious sound to God.
L: We sing together: hymns that we love, clearly and melodiously, with strength and modesty, in time and in tune - an act of fellowship and worship.
P: But above all we sing spiritually, with an eye to God for every word we sing.
L: Today as we sing and learn, may we worshipfully and continually offer our hearts to God.
P: We sing today and every day until that time when we sing before the throne of God.
All: Let us worship God in song! Amen!

Opening Hymn
O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing, vs. 1, 3, 7, UMH 57

Scripture Lesson
Colossians 3:12-16

Heritage Sunday Explanation & Hearts Strangely Warmed

Today is what The United Methodist Church calls Heritage Sunday. According to The Book of Discipline, "Heritage Sunday shall be observed on Aldersgate Day (May 24), or the Sunday preceding that date. The day provides an opportunity for reflection on heritage, celebration of where the Church has been, how it understands itself as it shapes us today, and the meaning of Christian conferencing. Heritage Sunday calls the Church to remember the past by committing itself to the continuing call of God." And that is what we will do today through hymns from our Wesleyan heritage and small teaching moments about our history, theology, and the United Methodist Church then and today.

Heritage Sunday is held the Sunday preceding Aldersgate Day, May 24th. Aldersgate Day is the anniversary of the day that John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist Movement, had a life-changing and heart warming experience on Aldersgate Street. The son of an Anglican minister who was ordained himself and a fellow at Oxford, Wesley had gone to the colonies to be a missionary. To make a long story short, it did not go well. It’s almost like a sordid soap opera: making a bad first impression among his parishioners by throwing liquor overboard of the ship, a scorned lover, skipping bail, and secretly getting on a ship back to England in the middle of the night. His stint as a missionary only lasted two years. And so in May 1738, Wesley’s spirits were low. He was questioning his faith, his calling, his place in life. And he reluctantly went to a Bible Study on Aldersgate Street. That evening after the study he wrote this in his journal: "while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

This “strangely warming” heart experience is what we as Methodists call justification - when we realize that God’s grace is active in our lives and accept it for ourselves, making our relationship with God right or justified.

The hymn “And Can It Be” reflects that heart strangely warmed experience and God’s justifying grace. It was written by Charles Wesley, the brother of John and co-founder of the Methodist movement. Charles himself had a heart strangely warmed and justifying moment just 3 days before John, on May 21st. After his experience Charles wrote in his journal, “I have found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in the hope of loving Christ.”

As we sing the words “Amazing love, how can it be?” let us remember God’s grace and goodness in our lives and allow our hearts to be strangely warmed.

And Can It Be That I Should Gain, vs. 1 & 3, UMH 363

Children’s Moment
(Recommended: Wesleys Take the Web: a Mobile Friendly History of the UMC video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Zx7xVw14I)

A Hymn for Every Season

Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, and co-founder of the Methodist movement was an Anglican minister and above all, a prolific hymn writer. He wrote over 9,000 poems in his lifetime, over 6,000 of which have been hymns. Our hymnal has almost 70 of his hymns and poems in it. His hymns shaped and reflected the theology and life of the Methodist movement. It’s one thing to say that Jesus is the incarnation of God. It’s another to belt out with all your heart and soul, “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail th’ incarnate Deity, pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.” His hymns were sung as part of the early Methodist movement and in our churches today, shaping the life of the church and theology just as much as sermons. Charles remained an Anglican minister his whole life, never agreeing with the Methodist split to become their own denomination when John ordained Methodist ministers to go and serve and offer sacraments to Christians in the revolutionary United States of America as most Anglican ministers fled back to England at the start of the American Revolution. Nevertheless, he was a founding member of the Holy Club, a group of Christians doing their best to live out their faith at Oxford, which became the foundation and launching point for the Methodist movement. He also oversaw Methodist groups throughout England, preaching, writing hymns, and shaping the theology of a movement that continues today.

All the hymns we are singing as a congregation today were written by Charles Wesley. He wrote hymns for every season of the church year. Some of his most popular hymns that we are not singing today are Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, Maker in Whom We Live, Jesus, Lover of my Soul, and A Charge I Have to Keep. We will now sing two of his most favorite hymns, a nod to how Charles Wesley shapes the life and theology of our church. A hymn for Christmas and a hymn for Easter. Let us sing, above all spiritually, as we remember the one who helped shape Methodists into “a singing people.”

Hark the Herald Angels Sing, vs. 1, UMH 240
Christ the Lord is Risen Today, vs. 1, UMH 302

Conferences & Connectionalism

In 1784, John Wesley ordained Thomas Coke and others to do ministry in America. With the American Revolution brewing, Anglican ministers, who took vows of allegiance to the Church of England and the King, found themselves in sticky situations by staying in the American colonies. Many left to return to England for their own safety. This created a pressing pastoral need. There were not enough ordained ministers in America to perform the sacraments. To offer Communion and baptize. Many of those living in America considered themselves part of the Methodist movement so Wesley made a pastoral decision: if the Church of England wouldn’t send ministers or couldn’t safely send ministers to meet this need, the Methodists would. The only thing is, as an Anglican minister, he did not have the authority to ordain, only Bishops could do this. So this act is the official start of Methodism as its own separate denomination instead of just a movement within the Church of England.

And still, life in much of the colonies and then the early United States, was more spread out and there weren’t enough clergy for every community to have their own and so the circuit rider - or saddlebags preacher - was born. Circuit riders were ministers who rode their horses from community to community, creating a circuit. They would offer the sacraments and preach in a town then get on their horse and travel to the next, ever riding in a circuit. Lay ministers would preach and organize the church until the circuit rider returned. Circuit Riders were so committed to their charges that the phrase “This weather is only fit for crows and Methodist preachers” was coined. This early structure continues to shape the structure of the church today with United Methodist ministers being appointed to charges and being itinerant while the church belongs to and is shaped by the laity.

Francis Asbury was the most famous circuit rider and Bishop in that first Methodist church. He rode over 270,000 miles on horseback traveling to his charges. That’s enough to travel around the globe nearly 11 times.

On Christmas Eve in 1784, Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury gathered with all the known Methodist preachers in America, about 86 at the time. The call had gone out for all of them to ride to Baltimore, Maryland and meet to officially establish The Methodist Episcopal Church, making its own denomination. This first conference was called The Christmas Conference.

Still to this day, Methodists are organized by conferences. General Conference which happens once every four years is composed of half laity and half clergy and they are the only body who can set polity and officially speak for The United Methodist Church. We also have Jurisdictional, Annual, and District conferences for regional conferencing. 

Moreover, the United Methodist Church continues as then: as a connectional system. We believe we are stronger together than apart. Our polity, our ministers, and even outreach, mission, and ministry are done at a level beyond the local church. From itinerant ministers and the seminaries that educate them; to the United Methodist Committee on Relief that is often the first to arrive and the last to leave after disaster strikes; to our general boards which address systemic issues in our world and equip and educate our churches to survive and thrive in our modern world; to the relationships and partnerships our clergy and churches can have together. We are a connectional Church and stronger for it.

Shortly after its publication, John Wesley started using the hymn “And Are We Yet Alive” at the start of every Methodist society meeting, a tradition that continues today at Annual Conferences across the world as they meet. The song reminds us of our connectional system, of being stronger together than apart, and how God’s grace has seen us through the last year apart.

And Are We Yet Alive, vs. 1, 3, 4, UMH 553

A Theology of Love and Grace

It is not just our unique history and polity that defines us as Methodists but also our theology. When people ask what sets Methodists apart, two of the top answers are Love and Grace. While these are prevalent in the whole Christian Church, they play an especially central theme in Wesleyan theology. John Wesley asserted that Love was God’s Reigning Feature. That means that God’s Love is the crown upon the head of God and the throne on which God sits. God’s sovereignty cannot be separated from God’s love. Therefore, Wesley strongly asserted that we as humans have free-will to respond to God’s grace as we choose. The God who is Love, loves us and all creation above all else and therefore does not force Grace upon us. This was in direct contrast to the Calvinist theology of predestination, something which Wesley adamantly preached against.

And while God does not force Grace upon us, God is always always always offering us grace, even before we know there is Grace to be had. As Methodists this is a defining aspect of our theology. We call it prevenient grace. The grace that comes before. When we accept God’s grace that is always offered to us, we call that Justifying Grace - the experience of strangely warmed hearts that we talked about before. And then there is Sanctifying Grace, the grace of God that is ever with us, our whole lives long, helping shape and guide us to more perfect love of God and neighbor.

God’s Love and Grace are always with us and this is the central theology of Methodism. Let us now sing of that love and grace.

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, 1, 2, 4 UMH 384

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer

Invitation to Generosity
Offertory
The Doxology

(If observing Holy Communion, suggested focus on the UMC's Open Table and the hymn "Come Sinners to the Gospel Feast)

The Holy Club & Holiness Today

The Methodist Movement has always been one centered on living out our faith. In their days at Oxford, John and Charles Wesley joined with other friends to form a spiritual support group, if you will. They studied the Bible and prayed together. They shared in Holy Communion at least once a week, They also held each other accountable to living out their faith. They cared for the poor and needy together: visiting the elderly, teaching children, and going to the prison to visit those there weekly. This group had zeal and dedication to their faith and living it out. And other students there didn’t understand it - they gave the group deriding nicknames including Bible-moths, The Holy Club, and Methodists. The last one because of their almost methodical method of living out their faith.

As the movement grew beyond this Holy Club of friends at Oxford, they adopted the name Methodists, proud of the way they encouraged people to fully live out their faith.

In Methodist theology we talk about Means of Grace - the ways we experience God and live out our faith in this world. And it can be divided into four categories. Individual acts of piety: like prayer and reading the Bible. Communal acts of worship: like receiving the sacraments and singing hymns together. Individual acts of charity: like volunteering at the soup kitchen, making a donation, lending a helping hand. And communal acts of justice: like standing up and speaking out for equity and justice in this world. Wesley was a strong anti-slave trade advocate and often got kicked out of churches for speaking against the slave trade. Methodists continue to be advocates for justice today and we are proud that our greater connection includes The Commission on the Status and Role of Women, The General Commission on Religion and Race, and the General Board of Church and Society. Methodists are not silent on issues of injustice.

Indeed, Methodists are encouraged to holistically live out their faith as individuals and in a faith community, to ever strive to more perfect love of God and neighbor. As we sing our closing hymn “Forth in Thy Name I Go” may you be encouraged and embolden to reflect Christ in all you do.

Forth in Thy Name I Go, vs. 1 & 4, UMH 438

Benediction

Today I pray that your hearts were strangely warmed. To sing of God’s love together, to learn of our heritage, to be encouraged to live out our faith. Now go in peace, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.