LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33712
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961
lakewooducc.org
lakewooducc@gmail.com
Date: Oct. 1, 2023 World Communion Sunday
Scripture Lesson: Psalm 104
Sermon: Common Ground
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
This week an extremely rare gift dropped to Earth in the Utah desert. A capsule with about 250 grams of rock and soil that traveled 1.2 billion miles from the astroid Bennu was delivered by the robotic spacecraft OSIRIS-Rex. UPS, Fed Ex, and Amazon, look out! The sample was collected 3 years ago from the small astroid which is only 500 meters across. This soil and rock will offer clues about the origins and development of rock planets like Earth. The sample is being shared among 200 scientists in 60 labs worldwide for investigation and study. What a marvelous story of humanity coming together to delight in the wonders of Creation.
And we know that that is as it should be. The Cosmos is intended to evoke our awe and wonder. This weekend the Florida Orchestra performed the symphony The Planets by Gustav Holst. Maybe some of you heard it last night. It is a beautiful evocation of the eight planets that were known to be in the solar system with Earth when the symphony was written between 1914 and 1917. We can only imagine what Holst would create in response to the images from the Webb telescope! The Cosmos is a mysterious, fathomless functioning whole, and when you think of Bennu, the astroid, created 4.5 billion years ago, we see that humanity is really only a blip in a much bigger picture!
Here we are on Earth, as humans – for about 200,000 years, or for one year, or for four score and seven years, and each and every moment of this life a miracle. Here we are to glory in the beauty and wonder of life. And to take our place, play our part, in the unfolding drama of Creation.
As we try to conceive of the scope and span of the Cosmos, beyond our human knowing, we realize that we are connected to it all, we’re part of it. And religion is one of the ways that the human species expresses our connection to this much larger reality. Our many different religious expressions and practices help us to engage with Creation in all of its holiness and wonder. Religious observances help us to honor the sacredness of all life. And when we think of the vast scope of the Cosmos and the incredible diversity of humanity, it only makes sense that there would be many different expressions of religion and spirituality. We try to conceive of a soil sample from Bennu. Created 4.5 million years ago coming 1.2 billion miles to Earth. It’s beyond our full comprehension. So the idea that there would be just one religion, one spiritual path, seems utterly absurd given the incomprehensible nature of the Cosmos.
So, we are a species of many different religious expressions as we should be. We are part of a worldwide human family that includes Jews, Muslims, Hindus, BaHai’s, Buddhists, Sikhs, animists, agnostics, atheists, and many, many more! Different people, different habitats, different cultures, different life experiences, different needs, different understandings, all of these things lead to a multiplicity of religious expressions. Even within our own religion, Christianity, we see that there are many different streams of expression of our Christian faith. And that is as it should be. Trinity UCC has lived experience with the diversity within Christianity in the years that the church served as a worship center for four very different Christian faith communities. How beautiful!
World Communion Sunday is holy day on which Christians around the world with all of our different beliefs and expressions celebrate our unity through the sacrament of holy communion. We come to a table to eat a bit of food reminding us of the life-giving love of Jesus Christ. We come to celebrate how we are constantly being fed physically and spiritually through the wonders of Creation. We come to experience a sense of belonging and our place in the larger reality of Divine Love. We come to this table to feed the Christ, the potential for love and goodness, within us, which compels us to be in communion with people of all faiths and no faith because reality is one and God is love. We come to give thanks for all that is being given to us. All of this and so much more than we can ask or imagine. At this table.
And today, at this service, at this table, we celebrate another communion. We mark the beginning of a formal cooperative ministry relationship between Trinity United Church of Christ and Lakewood United Church of Christ. Trinity was founded in 1952 as an Evangelical and Reformed congregation which later became part of the United Church of Christ when it was established in 1957. The E and R church had German roots. Lakewood was originally founded as All Saints Lutheran Church; the Lutheran church also having German roots. Lakewood came into the UCC in 1967 joining Trinity, Pilgrim, and First Congregational as the 4 UCC churches of St. Petersburg. Through the years, our churches have worked together in various ways. Our stories intertwine. The founding pastor of Trinity, Bob Frey, and spouse Beth, were beloved members of Lakewood when they moved back to St. Petersburg in their retirement. Bob served as an interim minister at Lakewood during several times of transition. So the two churches have shared ministerial leadership.
When Lakewood joined the UCC in 1967, Trinity supported and encouraged Lakewood. In a letter honoring the 10th anniversary of Lakewood in 1977, then Trinity pastor Don Hafner, spouse of current Trinity member Colleen Hafner, wrote: “We at Trinity Church are proud to have had a share in your beginning through our sponsorship and support of the Lakewood project.” So, it appears Trinity actively supported Lakewood becoming established as a viable congregation and joining the United Church of Christ. Lakewood is here in part because of the support of Trinity Church in those early years.
The Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu says, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” In terms of the journey of Trinity and Lakewood cooperating in ministry, it seems that single step took place over 56 years ago. What we can see is that Trinity and Lakewood have already been in ministry together for a very long time.
In recent weeks, when I have mentioned to people this cooperative ministry undertaking, I have been a little surprised by the reactions I have gotten. They are mostly on the order of: “That must be hard.” “That’s a real challenge.” “You have your work cut out for you.” “That must be a very difficult situation to manage.” You get the idea. Frankly, the responses have all been of concern and worry.
Honestly, these are two churches, from the same denomination, in the same city, with similar interests and commitments, that have been involved with each other in varying ways for 56 years. There is so much common ground. And we see that we can be so much more together than we can be separately.
For people who believe in peace on earth and loving your enemy, why is two like-minded churches coming together seen as such a challenge? I don’t get it.
At a meeting we had with the governing boards of the two churches, one of the things we discussed was what we love about our churches. There was so much common ground. Frankly, it was one of the most moving, intense, exciting meetings I have ever been part of. It really felt like we were being gathered up by the Holy Spirit and I’m not usually one to say things in that way.
We are beginning this formal cooperative ministry to strengthen our witness to the unconditional love of the God of the Cosmos as we see it made manifest in the particular human life and ministry of Jesus. It is about so much more than us. And we start with so much common ground.
If a capsule with a little over half a pound of ground from an astroid 52,886,850 miles away can be delivered to Earth and examined by 200 scientists in 60 different labs around the globe, surely our two churches can come together in communion for the sake of this God-so-loved world. Amen.
The information about the soil sample from Bennu came from:
“NASA asteroid sample parachutes safely onto Utah desert” by Steve Gorman, Maria Caspani posted on September 25, 2023 8:56 AM UTC. The link is: https://www.reuters.com/science/nasas-first-asteroid-sample-parachutes-into-utah-desert-2023-09-24/
A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 