Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 43:1-7, and Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
I have a friend who takes great joy and delight in serving on the altar guild at her church. They go in to the church on Saturdays and arrange things in the sanctuary for Sunday services, including flowers, banners, paraments, and whatever else is needed for the given week. My friend really enjoys this ministry. But, as often happens with church work, on thing leads to another. That’s why church involvement can be so interesting and engaging.
Well, my friend and one of her compatriots from the altar guild were at the church one Saturday morning, when a woman came into the sanctuary who neither of them knew. She looked rather down and out. Well, my friend went over to talk with this woman. It turns out she was homeless and staying in a hotel. She was due to move in with someone in a couple of days, but she had no way to pay for the hotel those last few nights. My friend listened compassionately and told the woman that when she was done with her responsibilities in the sanctuary, she would take the woman back to the hotel and pay for the remaining stay. The woman was so appreciative, and that’s what happened.
That should be the end of the story, but it is not. The next day at church, my friend was taken aside by someone on the governing board who took issue with her. Her job was to serve on the altar guild. What was she doing helping this homeless woman? Now that she had helped someone, more people would come. Other homeless and poor people would start coming by the church asking for help. The implication was that this was terrible, and that my friend had no right to do this or to create this problem for the church. Yes, my friend was reprimanded by a church official for helping the woman with her hotel bill, which she did out of her own pocket, not even with church funds. She was told to stick to her duties on the altar guild, and if she wanted to help the homeless, fine, but don’t get the church involved. Needless to say, my friend was shocked. She, along with the priest of the church, and most other members of the congregation, understand that the church exists to help people. It is the mission of the church to make God’s love real in the world in life-giving ways.
In the beautiful verses that we heard from Isaiah, we hear wonderful promises from God. Do not fear. You are my people. I have called you. I will be with you in the struggle. I will be present in suffering. You are loved and cared for. These are beautiful assurances from God to a community in despair. They are lovely words. Comforting sentiments. These are the promises that we celebrate and affirm in the church. These promises portray the God of love and care at the heart of the Christian church. We trust these promises and they give us strength for living our lives.
But for a promise to have meaning, it must be fulfilled. How are God’s wonderful promises fulfilled? How does this come to pass? How do people experience God’s care and comfort? Solidarity and strength? Belonging and assurance? This is experienced within the faith community. It is within the church that we are to experience God’s loving care; divine acceptance and forgiveness; and God’s strength carrying us through difficult times. The church is the place to experience God’s life-affirming presence and love. That is what we are to find in the church; the faith community.
It is the mission of the church to embody these promises of God. To make them real in the world. To offer people the experience of God’s presence and comfort and love. This is what is meant to happen in the church.
The church is a place where everyone is to feel a sense of belonging. The church is a place to feel valued and accepted where ever we are on life’s journey. The church is a place where everyone should expect to receive comfort, compassion, and to be treated with dignity. The church should not degrade people or treat them disrespectfully. It is a place where people who are suffering can expect understanding, comfort, and support. The church should not turn a deaf ear to the cries of people for mercy, for help, for healing and wholeness, for justice and compassion. Jesus never turned a deaf ear to anyone and neither should the church. All should feel a sense of solidarity and belonging here.
The homeless woman who came to the church for help and a sympathetic ear, expected the church to be what it should be: a haven of love and compassion. And she was right to hope for some concrete help. Remember Jesus‘ teaching about helping the stranger, feeding the poor, visiting those in prison, giving a cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty? The church should be a place where concrete help is available, as well as respect and dignity. This homeless woman understood more about the mission of the church than the leader who reprimanded my friend. She needs some remedial counsel from the priest!
There was once a man working hard to move up the corporate ladder. As part of the climb, he decided to invite the head of the company and several top executives to a dinner party at the house. It would be a formal occasion, catered, with servers, cocktails and hors d-oeuvres served before an elegant meal.
The family had a son who was 6 years old. The mother and father set about teaching the child the manners he would need for this dinner party. For days before the event, they practiced using the multiple forks, spoons, glasses, and plates that would be used on the special evening. They practiced the conversational skills that would be appropriate.
The evening arrived and all was going well. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres had been served. They sat down at the dining table for the meal. Water and wine were served, the soup was hot, and the conversation was lively. The son was doing fine. But he was quite hungry and when the basket of hot rolls was put on the table, he couldn’t resist. His hand shot out and grabbed for a roll, and in the process he knocked over his stemmed water goblet. When he quickly retracted his hand, he toppled the wine glass of the person next to him and the wine spilled into the rolls.
The son was horrified remembering all the careful teachings of his parents. He should never have reached out for the rolls. He should have waited for them to be passed to him. Now he had ruined the dinner. He looked at his father, terrified. His father saw the expression on the young child’s face, and immediately knocked over his own water glass and then his wine glass. He laughed and said to the boy, “Come on. Let’s clean it up together.” [From Advent, Christmas and Epiphany: Stories and Reflections on the Sunday Readings by Megan McKenna, p. 118, adapted]
This should be the attitude of the church. An attitude of acceptance and understanding and mutuality. In church we are to find help cleaning up the messes we have made of our lives and of this world. We should find support and help and hope in our troubles.
For the church to fulfill the promises of God and to be that kind of community in which we experience God’s presence and strength and comfort, we need to be the people who reach out to one another and to the world with the love of God. We need to be the people like the dad who, rather than reprimanding his son, stood with him and helped him come back from his mistake. For the promises of God to be made real, we need to be the ones who make it happen. While we expect to find God here, we also need to be willing to embody God’s presence and love in the world. In baptism, we celebrate the spirit of God present in our lives equipping us for that ministry. Church life is about give and take. We receive God’s love and compassion, and we also learn to be God’s love and compassion for others.
In our consumer culture, we are trained to look for what we’re going to get. What kind of service will we get from a provider? What kind of deal will we get from a store? What will be provided to us by a product that we purchase? What will the government give us? We are indoctrinated to constantly assess what we are receiving from stores and businesses and products as well as from public institutions and even the church. We talk about church shopping. In church growth materials, there is talk about “marketing the church” and offering people multiple services and activities that appeal to people today, and attracting people with different conveniences in the church like a coffee bar, or a health club, or attractive interior decor. Yes, the church does have something to give, but the church is also a community that calls us to give to others and to the world. The promises of God are not fulfilled for us until they are fulfilled by us. This is the heart of the teaching of Jesus. To find your life, you must loose it. You must give yourself to something, something worthy beyond yourself, to find the wholeness that completes you, and that satisfies. So the church should always be about encouraging us to give and serve, not simply to consume the services and the love offered by the faith community.
We see this calling beautifully embodied in the musical “Les Miserables.” In a scene near the beginning of the story, Jean Valjean has been released from prison. He is making his way home, to start a new life. He seeks shelter in a church where he is welcomed and fed. But desperate, having no money and no means of supporting himself, Jean Valjean steals the silver altarware from the church, which he intends to sell for the money he needs to begin again. He escapes into the night. He is stopped by the authorities who take him back to the church to be directly accused and pronounced guilty. When he stands before the priest with the guard as witness, the priest takes the candlesticks off of the table and hands them to Valjean, saying he forgot to take them. The silver was a gift, it was not stolen. The priest then tells Valjean to use the silver to start a new life which is devoted to serving God. And that is what Valjean proceeds to do. He becomes rich and he helps various other people through the course of the story, valiantly giving others new life and hope. He embodies the love and mercy of God which were shown to him by the church.
This is what the church should be doing. Well, maybe not giving away the silver, but helping people in need, whatever the need, and inspiring people to help others in turn, because that is how the promises of God are finally fulfilled. Jesus received the Holy Spirit which empowered him to give his life away in love. The church, the body of Christ in the world, has been given that same Spirit and is empowered to lavish divine love upon the world. So blessed, may we be a blessing. Amen.
A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.
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