Sermons
9/8/07
FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
September 2, 2007
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Looking back over my nearly three decades of experience here at Reformation, I have come to realize that congregations like individuals face some crossroads in their collective lives. In considering such critical points in the life of our own faith community, four such decisions come to mind. The first was the decision to pursue the Word and Witness program, setting the stage for continued adult Christian education and lay empowerment. The second was the formation of our prayer groups, which deepened our spiritual base. The third was allowing Iglesia de Dios to share our worship space. The fourth was the decision to move ahead with the new additions. Curiously enough, while this allows for greater flexibility and growth in our internal programming, the committees, ministries and fellowship events of the Reformation family, its greatest impact seems to be in providing an enlarged space where outside groups and family gathering can meet. This morning I would like to concentrate on the third and fourth decisions because they seem united in our underlying decision to extend hospitality in an increasingly intentional fashion. This command to practice hospitality is of course part of our Second Reading as the author of Hebrews declares, 1Let mutual love continue. 2Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. What then does it mean to show hospitality? What lessons have we learned in trying to actively carry out this teaching?
To begin, we must understand we are blessed to be a blessing. God has given us, first and foremost the blessing of His Son’s love and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Pen ultimately, He has granted us a diverse, gifted and committed congregation as well as a beautiful and functional facility in a very visible location. This convergence of these blessings is no accident. God does this because He has called us to do great and growing things with the resources we have been granted to serve others. This is a positive and exciting perspective. There is also a somewhat darker side to all of these blessings that must be verbalized. If we do not share these great blessings with others, God will not longer entrust them to our stewardship.
We must grow in humility. One of the great dangers of receiving such blessings is to fall into the mistaken belief that we are somehow entitled to them because we are so wonderful. This is a very serious misunderstanding. We in no way deserve these blessings but God has decided to grant them to us nonetheless. Why us? This is one of the many mysteries of God. But we are not alone in receiving blessings from the Almighty. Even the least of the people we assist, least when viewed by the eyes and standards of the world, is also an incredibly beloved and blessed child of God. Those who receive our hospitality have special gifts to offer in return, even if it is a faith that remains steadfast despite many afflictions. This blessing is very much a two way street. Hospitality cuts both ways. We must realize that others have some special gifts to share with us because by God’s grace we are all one.
We must be open to the gifts that God grants us through those around us. Hospitality can change rapidly. When we practice hospitality sometimes we are the primary means by which God offers His blessing. But often, when we least expect it, the roles are suddenly reversed and we are the ones who are blessed. Crossroads experiences. I began this sermon by considering a few crossroad experiences of Reformation. Let me end by sharing another from my early professional life.
One of the many requirements for those who seek ordination is to take at least one quarter of Clinical Pastoral Education. My quarter was spent at Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut. Since this is a state psychiatric institution this meant I was seeing many profoundly disturbed individuals including a few serial killers. Most of the residents were long term and almost all very poor. I will confess I began my ministry there filled with the typical egotism of a seminarian. I was going to straighten them all out. I was going to be the primary provider of God’s hospitality. And even in this godless place the angels would bless me. In fact, the tide quickly turned. I found I learned a tremendous amount from those same residents including the often gracious hospitality they extended to a know it all budding theologian who was so filled with himself.
2Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Sometimes we are the ones called to show hospitality to the angels in our midst. But sometimes we who are far from angels are the ones who require this same hospitality. Amen
9/14/07
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
September 9, 2007
Philemon 1-21
Today we encounter one of the more intriguing books in the Bible. It is the shortest, only 25 verses so our Second Reading comprises nearly the entire letter. We think that Paul actually wrote it partially because it is so short that it would probably take such apostolic authorship to allow it into the canon.
And this morning, I would like to raise up a single sentence. I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother. There is a great poignancy in these words because Paul was probably in prison when he penned these lines, perhaps in Ephesus, perhaps in Rome. And if the latter, his days were truly numbered. And yet the Apostle talks about joy and encouragement. What can we learn from these brief words?
The first important lesson is that everyone needs encouragement of one kind or another. Perhaps it is a sign of our innate sin, but I have observed how quick we are to tear down but how slow to build up. Take letter writing. For a long time the only occasion on which I was tempted to write was when I was unhappy with the given purchase or service. One day it dawned on me that there were times when I was extremely happy with the result of an interaction, but never thought to include this in an epistle. About ten years ago, I tried to offer a small witness in this respect. To my pleasant surprise, I have actually seen a few of these letters of commendation posted in prominent places. I have made poorer use of my energies. Think of your own lives. Consider how under some difficult circumstances such words of encouragement were the lifeline that really was required. Sometimes we are the ones who need to grasp this lifeline, but sometimes we are the ones who are called to throw it just as the slave owner Philemon proved to be a source of joy and encouragement to the Apostle Paul.
We should also remember that this encouragement is a gift from God. God is love. And love expresses itself in encouragement with great frequency. This spiritual truth has two implications. In the first place, if we receive encouragement from another, we should realize that God has His hand in this. Often we ask for some sign from the Almighty that we are not alone. The encouragement we receive from others is just such a sign. Secondly, when we feel the calling to encourage others, pay very close attention to this sacred calling. This is in fact God calling you in a very intentional way to be His instrument here on earth. We often say we would like to do something significant for God. There are few things more significant we can do for the Almighty than to offer encouragement.
Because sometimes even the smallest of actions can have a very large effect. On this Rally Day it is appropriate to note that long-term teachers understand this truth from experience. One of the joys of teaching is meeting students from earlier years who recount how a given lesson or action has remained with them through the decades. This morning we honor the EMT’s who serve us. As any of them will tell you the people they have helped in the simplest fashion still recall how just a few encouraging words can make all the difference in the world. Over two decades ago, when I was in the hospital, one of my friends and colleagues, Gloria Fell, sent me a note of encouragement containing a little plastic prayer card. I still look at that card most days and her ministry continues. These small acts of encouragement are the hidden treasures God has buried within us.
7I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother. As Paul received an angel of encouragement through Philemon, may we give thanks for those angels of encouragement in our lives and may we, in like manner, prove to be angels of encouragement for those around us. Amen.
9/20/07
Pentecost 16; Luke 15:1-10; September 15-16, 2007
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit our Sustainer.
Have you ever gotten so fed up with another person’s antics that you just wrote him off? Gave up on him? I have. I discovered that dirty, little secret about myself when I was a student chaplain.
Another student was never prepared for class. He always had an excuse—he had a family to pay attention to, he didn’t get much sleep the night before, the copier wasn’t working, he had boring patients who gave him nothing interesting to report on, ad nauseam. He was always asking the rest of us to help him—share our work, run around looking for a working copier, swap assignments with him. It was then I discovered when a person pushes me far enough, that person suddenly drops off my radar screen. Becomes a non-entity. I no longer concern myself with retaining that person in my circle of interest. Certainly, I do wish the other well, and I treat the other civilly; but no longer will I go out of my way for that other. I’m done worrying.
Aren’t we all glad I’m not God? I sure am! You see, it’s different with God.
Jesus tells us two stories. Two stories illustrating the lengths God goes for us. Illustrating God never quits.
A shepherd had a hundred sheep. One wanders away. Typical of sheep. I’d probably be fed up with wandering sheep, take my ninety-nine and cut my losses. Not God! God doesn’t quit. God searches and seeks and look and probes. Only when God is able to return the lost one to the fold does God rest. No one is abandoned as permanently lost for God.
A woman loses a coin. Notice Jesus tells the story about a “woman” and not a “widow.” The implication is this woman has a husband who provides for her so the loss of a single coin is not life and death for her. However, being careful and concerned, this woman does not give up until she finds that lost coin—probably rolled in the dust in an unlikely corner of the house. I’d probably crack it up to the cost of living, knowing it was an unimportant coin, maybe I’ll find it some other time. Not God! Only when God finds the small unimportant one, retrieves it from the dust and dirt and returns it to its rightful place—only then does God rest.
The stories Jesus tells are stories of repentance. Repentance means “return to the Lord.” This definition encourages us to turn ourselves back to God, suggesting the human is the active one. But look closely at the details of Jesus’ stories.
Does the sheep go looking for the shepherd? Is the sheep frantic trying to find its way back? Oh, no. The sheep is wandering off, oblivious to the danger it’s heading toward, oblivious to the frantic search of the shepherd. Does the coin shine itself up and leap back into the woman’s pocket? Absolutely not. The coin can’t do any of that. It sits in the dirt without awareness of what or where it is or what will become of it.
No, the lost ones remain lost if left to their own devices. While we talk of repentance as a return to the Lord, we too often think we are the ones doing the turning. Humanity is the active one in the story. Not true. God, in fact, is the active one, turning us back on the right path, returning us to relationship with God.
It is not our action reconciling us to God. Humanity only can reject God’s overtures. It is God’s action bringing us back, keeping us safe in relationship with God. And God doesn’t quit. God seeks relentlessly.
God seeks, finds, reclaims, forgives, restores. God does all these things. We receive God’s gracious beneficence. That’s all we can do. Receive with gratitude. Or reject through sheer arrogance. God seeks relentlessly, urgently, and never quits.
And on that glorious day, God and all heaven rejoices when the lost is found and brought back into the family. Amen.