Sermons
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11/17/2024 0 Comments November 17, 2024 - The Gift of Love The Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 13
The Gospel: Matthew 22: 34-40 The Cub Scout Motto is “Do your best.” When I was a Cub Scout Den Leader and Cub Master I always emphasized to my Tigers, Wolves, Bears and WEBELOS that it was not about being the best, it was about doing your individual and collective best. Of course, there were competitions like Pinewood Derbies where one block of wood with wheels attached would somehow make it down faster than the others, when it felt like the only objective was to be the best. I remember one year when my oldest son Jordan was in 4th grade; he spent months preparing for that year’s Pinewood Derby. He read a book about how to make the fastest cars out of that pine block. He carved a sleek design, shaved the metal wheels just as the book instructed, but still within legal limits. He painted it with care so it would not only be fast but would look like the sports car it was. Then the much anticipated race day came. Jordan put his sleek race car on the top of the ramp with the others, the cars were released and traveled down the track and his came in 3rd. The car that won that year was not carved at all. The pine block had been painted to look like Spongebob, the wheels were attached, and somehow it was the fastest one down - maybe gravity won that time. Jordan was devastated. He quickly put on sunglasses to hide the tears that were welling up in his eyes. He felt like the worst, not the best. But he had done his best; it just does not always end up in being the best at any given moment. So why does our society so focus on winning, so focus on being the best instead of doing our best whether it is in a sports event, political race, grades in school or in competition for business? Wouldn’t it be better if we could all just do our best individually and collectively without the competition that labels someone a winner and everyone else a loser or lesser? Jesus was telling the Pharisees that the race is over God is first when he said the greatest commandment is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” But he was also emphasizing that it was not a competition of who could love God the best when he added, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If we love God first, we learn to embody God’s love for humanity - the kind of love that Paul expresses in 1 Corinthians 13. Paul is talking about agape - the love embodied most visibly in God’s love for humankind in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This love is an action - a love that seeks not for its own good but for the one who is loved. It is the love that God has for all of us and it is our job as Christians to emulate that agape love for all. We have to try to do our best at loving God and our neighbor, not be the best at it. No trophy needed. But that is not what the Corinthians were doing and, therefore, Paul needed to remind them what love really is. The Corinthians were devout in their new Christian faith and rich in spiritual gifts. They had knowledge of God, the gift of prophecy and the ability to speak with tongues of angels but they were also in competition with one another to see who could be the best. They were divided by the competition of their faith rather than united through it. We know what they were up to by the “nots” in Paul’s letter. They were envious, boastful, arrogant and rude. They were insisting on their own way. They were irritable and resentful and rejoiced in all of that, asserting that they were individually the best but the others were not. They were, essentially, individuals of a thin faith forgetting to show agape love and love their neighbors as themselves. They were not a faith community. Paul was emphasizing that spiritual gifts by themselves are not enough. Speaking even angelic words without love is just noise and not a pleasant noise either but the constant pounding on a gong or the clanging of cymbals. Think of it as tone, the emphasis that conveys emotion or meaning. The Corinthians might have been saying: “God loves you” when, if they had added the love in, they would have said: God Loves You and You and You too! Even the gifts of knowledge and prophecy are nothing without love. What good is a future when you only care for yourself? What is the point of giving everything to the poor or suffering just to say you did instead of feeling that you must because of love? Agape love is an active, selfless love that loves even when others hate. It is a love that manifests in caring where others do not care. It is a love that takes a deep breath and thinks before reacting in anger. It is a love that can wait, and hope for a better future even when today is really tough. It is a love that does not need a trophy or even recognition. It is a love that endures even beyond this life. Agape love is what my friend Kim’s Aunt Glady demonstrated throughout most of her life as she worked for the Salvation Army helping others. And when one day in her elderly years she was standing at a bus stop and a man, angry for some unknown reason that had nothing to do with her, punched her in the eye causing her to lose her vision in that eye, she prayed for him knowing that he was really suffering to have done that to a stranger. Agape love is shown regularly by Red Cross, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders and many other aid organizations whose workers risk their lives to go into places of war and suffering like Sudan, the Gaza Strip and Ukraine to help the people. Agape love is demonstrated daily at shelters on both sides of the border between the United States and Mexico where asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are looked upon as fellow humans on this journey we call life and are given a meal, or socks, or a place to rest if only for a few hours. Agape love does not recognize labels, borders or barriers, Agape love does not segregate for any reason. Agape love looks into the eyes of another and says “What do you need? I’m here.” All things in this life will fade away. The only true imprints we leave are those we make in the hearts of others. While we can share love through financial gifts to those in need and should when we can, living a life of love costs us nothing but patience. It won’t come with a trophy or a first place ribbon. It may cause some suffering at times when others disagree with our approach but it is a love that connects us to our God: the true source of faith, hope and love. And when you have faith, hope, and love - what else do you really need? “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that those who believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 Your love is your everlasting life. It helps you survive and even thrive in this life and beyond. So let’s work at being our best, most loving selves: patient, kind, faithful, hopeful, respectful and joyful. When we can do that, we will be God’s gift of love, a breath of fresh air to the world. And it is in love that we most connect to our loving God. Amen. Pastor Michelle Fountain
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11/10/2024 0 Comments Nov. 10, 2024 - Sustaining Faith The Epistle Reading: Colossians 1: 1-23
The Gospel: Mark 4: 39-40 “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” Jesus says to his disciples in the boat after he calms the storm with the words “Peace! Be Still!” Did you notice that Jesus was sleeping in the midst of that turbulent storm? He wasn’t sleeping because he did not care. He was sleeping because he knew that this storm will pass, just as all the physical and metaphorical storms in our lives will pass, yet like the disciples, we often forget that and get caught up in the panic of the wind and rain. I find myself wondering if Jesus’ words, “Peace! Be Still!” were more for the wind or the disciples. In that moment in the boat, he calmed the wind first so that the disciples could hear him, because the wind was loud but more so because their fears were louder. They would not be able to hear what he said next if the storm was still raging. He needed them to be still, to find an inner peace to hear him. And when they were calmer, he asked the questions, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” We, like the disciples, often forget that faith is our shield or maybe better yet, our favorite quilt, security blanket or Teddy Bear that provides warmth and comfort through the storms of life. There will be storms, but faith, like the Teddy Bear hugged by a frightened child, provides reassurance to help us be still, catch our breaths, and find God’s peace and love even in the middle of the storm. A belief system rooted in the idea that no storms will come because of faith, is a shallow one indeed. It likely will not survive life’s first storm let alone the many others that will follow. Those who preach the Prosperity Gospel that your faith in God will result in health, wealth and all things perfect, did not pay enough attention to Jesus. When did Jesus ever seek wealth? When did he promise that life would be easy? He did seek justice, he did seek to help others and encouraged us to do the same. But Jesus also wanted the disciples and us to have a strength through faith that would sustain us through the inevitable storms that life will bring. A faith that recognizes that God is bigger than the problems of this world. A Faith that believes in hope, mercy and resurrection. Our faith is our strength, as Paul reminds us. As Paul reaches out to the Colossians to encourage them in their faith, he does not say that their faith will make life perfect. Instead, he offers prayers for them and a formula for faith:
In other words, he was telling the Colossians and us, to follow Jesus’ model. Thinking of all that Jesus endured even through death on the cross, that is a pretty incredible example of strength and endurance. His ministry was one of patience because even his own disciples did not always get him. And even as he was dying on the cross Jesus said, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” Sustaining our faith takes work. Sustain is a verb, an action. It means we have to work to remind ourselves that we have a foundation of strength or maybe even to build or strengthen our foundation of faith. Just as buildings in California and other earthquake prone areas are now often made to move with the shaking earth but not be shattered by it, so must we firmly root ourselves in the strength and patience and love of Christ to know that the winds, rains, and quakes of life will jostle us but they will not destroy us. Like the 80’s toys Weebelos, we wobble but we don’t fall down. We have faith and hope to hold us. This week many people feel like they are wobbling, but those of us with faith should look to that faith which gives a long view beyond any present challenges. There is much to be concerned about in the world from the devastating impacts of climate change, war, famines, violence, divisiveness, discrimination, vengeance, and hatred. It would be easy to fall over under that burden but faith in the God who has been there through all of our human history of war, violence, struggle and suffering reminds us that this too shall pass and to do our part to as Micah reminds us in 6:8: "seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God." We exercise our faith by walking with God. That means following Jesus’ example by, as we say in our mission, “Striving to live God’s message of inclusive love through Jesus Christ in our community, nation, and world.” Paul reminds us that “Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” That image, that model is love. Love for tax collectors and prostitutes, rich and poor, sick and healthy, those of different faiths, nationalities, races, gender identities, economic classes, abilities, political parties, and so on. Jesus modeled love for all, not just those who are like us. Sustaining our faith means practicing love and hope especially in challenging times. It is ok when storms come to be upset, fearful, even angry at times. Feel the feelings, they are natural too, but do not dwell in them. Let those feelings wash over you, then take a deep breath and as we sang earlier, breathe in peace - God’s peace and breathe out love. This world needs more love and Jesus was trying to show us that over 2000 years ago and is still trying to show us that today. We cannot be instruments of God’s peace and love until we center peace and love in our bodies. We have to step back from times of crisis and struggle and re-center with those deep breaths. Or maybe you, like I often do, need to walk through the struggle to get outside and physically move your body through the frustration and anger and in the pumping of your legs and the swinging of your arms, and the heavy breathing, you release some of the negative energy, leaving room for the positive: leaving room for the reminders of God’s presence through all of life’s challenges and our ability to connect to God through our faith in a way that will sustain us. Maybe in that walk our eyes are opened to the beauty of the mountains, a sunset or some of God’s creatures like the Pileated Woodpecker I saw on my walk yesterday morning that caused me to stop, smile and say Wow! Thanks God! These little gifts of beauty are God’s reminders that the world goes on and so should we. We are Easter people; we always have hope! Sustaining our faith means doing what we need to do whether that is meditation, walking, writing, reading scripture, praying or all of the above to face the world with hope when life is challenging. That allows us to be still enough to feel God’s peace. When we find our peace, our job is to follow Jesus’ model of spreading love. When love meets hate, hurt, and suffering in the world, seeds of hope are planted. We water the seeds with faith and warm them with the light of service -working towards peace and justice: never giving up no matter how challenging the storm. As Paul reminded the Colossians, “ You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.” It is our job as Christians to follow Christ’s model by planting the seeds of hope, helping them bear the fruit of love. That is how we sustain our faith and also how our faith sustains us. Amen. Pastor Michelle Fountain |
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