Category: Sermon Texts

Scripture Lessons: John 13:31-35 and Revelation 21:1-6

Pastor:  Rev. Kim P. Wells

In an advice column, someone writes in about something and then the columnist answers it.  My mother in law did thus and so . . .  and it goes on from there.  The guy I am dating doesn’t . . .  Whenever we go shopping, my daughter insists on . . .  So, the columnist offers a response to the circumstances presented.  Parts of the Bible kind of work like this only what we have is the response, we don’t usually get the initial query.  We aren’t told the full details of the circumstances being addressed.  But many of the writers have a target audience in mind and are thinking about the needs of that group as they write.

So, why do you tell people to, “Love one another as I have loved you”?  Why is this included in the last set of instructions and teachings that Jesus gives to his disciples in this gospel?  Evidently, this targets an issue. This is what the original audience for the gospel is having trouble with.  This is what they need to be reminded of.  

For the community that the gospel of John was addressing, this was an issue.  They were fractured by doctrinal disputes and by differing responses to outside pressures.  This was after the fall of Jerusalem and faith communities were reeling and trying to find a new normal without the Temple in Jerusalem as a cultic center.    

The Jesus followers addressed by the gospel of John were told to love because that is what they needed to hear.  It’s easy to see how that would be the case in the first communities of followers of Jesus and not only because of the external circumstances and pressures.

The first Christian communities were very diverse and the people did not have much experience getting along in an egalitarian way, seeing the views of others, functioning outside of the social structures of the highly stratified Roman Empire and traditional Temple oriented Judaism.  So, now they were to be family to one another and this intimate community life among diverse peoples was stressful and rife for misunderstandings and conflict.  And then there was the stress from the situation between the Roman Empire and the Jewish community.  

So, the gospel writer feels his readers need to be reminded to love and he works this into the last teachings of Jesus.  It is perfectly understandable that the disciples in the story would also need to be reminded to love given the circumstances of their story.  So, the disciples need to be reminded to love, the community of John needs to be reminded to love.  And, we also need to be reminded to love.  

The idea of love as the core of religious identity and practice was not new.  The commandment to love is not something new within the Jewish tradition.   In the Torah, Deuteronomy 6:5, we are told:  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you might.”  And then in Leviticus 19:18, ”You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself:  I am the Lord.”  Jews were taught to love God and neighbor. Love is the core of Judaism and Jesus was Jewish.  So what is new about the commandment that Jesus gives in the gospel of John?  In Judaism, love was defined by obedience to the Law, the Torah, and the subsequent teachings about the Law.  There were extensive guidelines that defined love so that people knew how to comply with the commandment to love God and neighbor.  

What is new in what is presented in the gospel of John is that now love is not defined by extensive rules and guidelines and regulations, but it is defined by the behavior and teachings of Jesus.  He is the model for defining love.  And what we see in Jesus is complete obedience to love, for everyone, regardless of the circumstances or the behavior of others.  

That is borne out in the story we heard today.  Jesus says love as I have loved you.  At the beginning of this chapter of John, there is the story of the foot washing associated with the last supper in this gospel.  And Peter misunderstands and wants to wash Jesus’ feet.  He still doesn’t get the nature of discipleship.  In this chapter there is also reference to who will betray Jesus and our portion of the chapter began with, “When Judas had gone out. . .”   So there is reference to the betrayal of Jesus to the authorities by one of his closest companions.  And the chapter ends with the arrest of Jesus.  So, amidst all of this misunderstanding, betrayal, denial, and death, Jesus tells the disciples to love one another as he has loved them.  Nothing stops Jesus’ love.  Not the worst humanity can sink to, and that’s pretty low, not even that can stop Jesus from loving the disciples.

Jesus’ love is for everyone, no exceptions.  Even death does not deter or restrict Jesus from loving.  There is no cap on the forgiveness, acceptance, and generosity of Jesus’ love.  There are no limits, boundaries, or restrictions to Jesus’ love.  This is a new way of presenting the concept of love.  

We often use the word love to refer to a feeling.  An emotion.  And we know that emotions can be powerful and can influence behavior.  But Jesus was not talking about love as an emotion.  There was no sentimentalizing love in his commandment.  There was no trivializing love in his commandment.

Jesus’ commandment is not a directive about a sentimental emotion.  It is about an ethical, moral imperative.  It is a way of being.  It is a choice.  It is true freedom and liberation, because Jesus has decided that nothing someone else does will stop his love.  He does not give up his life, he gives away his life in the cause of love.  Jesus’ love is not a denial of agency.  Jesus’ love is the full expression of identity and vocation.  It is beautiful.  Jesus’ love is liberating because it frees you from being controlled by others.  Others no longer have control or power over his being because he is choosing love regardless of what others say or do.  They will not control him.

In her book all about love:  NEW VISIONS, bell hooks discusses how to define love.  She affirms the definition given by M. Scott Peck in The Road Less Traveled.  Peck describes love as “the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.”  That is far beyond a casual sentiment or the expression of desire.  And in Jesus we see someone who extends himself unto death for the well-being of his friends, of all humanity, and of all of Creation.  This is what Jesus commands his disciples, to love as he has loved them.  He commands this because it is for their highest good, for the nurturing of their spiritual growth.  He wants nothing less for them and for us.  

Maybe you noticed that Jesus refers to the disciples as little children.  While he is with them, they are depending on him, like a parent.  But as he teaches, he tells them that he is going away and they cannot come.  They are going to be on their own.  They must learn to function as adults; no longer dependents.  They must learn to discipline and control themselves.  They are not going to have their teacher around to set them straight and help them understand everything any more.  They must grow up and become more mature in their discipleship.  So he tells them, as a group, about a new commandment so that they can help each other grow into living full and complete love.

We listened to a beautiful portion of a vision from Revelation.  This gives us a glorious image of a new reality.  This hopeful vision is needed for the people of the time because the Temple and Jerusalem have been destroyed and they are trying to come to terms with that.  Jesus teaches that when we love as he loves, we experience God’s presence and the comfort, peace, and healing we need.  We live into this new world portrayed in Revelation.  We experience the commonwealth of God here and now.  

In the first century, the faith community, the church, was to be a place to remember Jesus, to remember Jesus’ love, to retell his stories and teachings as a continuous reminder of who he was and who we are to be.  We do this still today in church each Sunday: we remember the love of Jesus because that is to define who we are.  And when we have communion, we do it remembering Jesus and his death which is the fullest expression of his love.  

Beyond that, in the first century as well as today, the church, the faith community, the gathered people, who eat together and pray together, and serve together, are to be a laboratory for love.  It is with these people that we practice forgiveness and try to get better at it.  It is with these people that we try to practice reconciliation when there are differences and hurt feelings.  It is with these people that we experiment with being generous.  It is with these people that we increase our capacity to be understanding and accepting.  Being part of a church doesn’t mean everyone is going to get along and it will all go smoothly.  Not at all!  We are going to have differences.  Feelings will be hurt.  There will be misunderstandings.  But it is with these people that we practice and experiment with loving fully, freely, and without limits.  It is in this community that we learn, grow, and improve our ability to love with Jesus’ love.  

We turn to bell hooks again who points out:  “Realistically, being part of a loving community does not mean we will not face conflicts, betrayals, negative outcomes from positive actions, or bad things happening to good people.  Love allows us to confront these negative realities in a manner that is life-affirming and life enhancing.”  [bell hooks, all about love:  New Visions, 2000, p. 139].

Church as a Christian community is a love practicum.  A lab class.  Where we try things out.  Assess outcomes.  Try to come up with a better solution.  Where we experiment and grow in our capacity to love with Jesus’ love.  It is a place to overcome our limits.  To wrest control from society and others who are testing the limits of our love.  It is the place where we are honest with each other and help each other learn and grow in love.  Here we are Jesus to one another trying to love each other with Jesus’ love.

During the Civil Rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King focussed on the power of love.  He put into practice the new commandment that we are given in the gospel of John.  He did this by intentionally training people to be loving especially toward those who hated them and wished them ill.  When they were preparing for a non violent protest, people were trained in how to respond to hostility, to ridicule, to debasement, and to violence, with love.  No violence.  No retaliation.  No revenge.  The only tactic to be used was love – Jesus’ love, the love without limits, the love that suffers even unto death, but that eventually triumphs.  

Learning to love at church helps us to be more loving to people out in the world.  We spread the love.  We take the love out to others.  We learn to function from love for all.  And we know that when we love others, when people feel loved, it makes people friendlier.  It makes people more patient.  It makes people less self absorbed.  It makes people more at peace. So our loving with Jesus love brings peace and joy to us, to those we are engaged with in the church, and to the world.  

Really what is Christianity?  What is church?  What is following Jesus?  This teaching from John makes it very simple.   “Love one another as I have loved you.”  There’s no complicated theology or doctrine or dogma.  There are no extensive laws and rules and guidelines.  There aren’t even 10 commandments to remember.  Just one:  Love one another as I have loved you.  It is simple.  But it is not easy.  Most of us will spend our lives trying to get the hang of it.  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.

Scripture Lesson: Psalm 148

Sermon:  A Mother’s Manifesto

Pastor:  Rev. Kim P. Wells

I’ll start with a confession.  I love being a mother.  It is the most interesting and challenging thing in my life – and that’s saying something given my job which is extremely interesting and challenging and my husband!  I take great delight in my children.  It is amazing to watch them develop and grow.  I am grateful for the humor and fun that children bring to life.  There is wonder and satisfaction in investing your life in future generations.  I also had the random good fortune to have an amazing mother who was filled with love not only for her family but for every family and for the world.  So, my mother and the many mothers of this congregation whom I have known through the years have been wonderful role models and sources of help and comfort.  I have somehow landed in a situation conducive to being a mother with much support for the journey.   So, for me, being a mother is an amazing delight –  most of the time.  I know that it is not so for all mothers.  Some have it much harder than I.  And I would like to be part of making this world more supportive of parents and families of every kind.   

So, as a mother of three now adult children, I would like to share what I would like to see for the wellbeing of my children and all children.  And when all the children of our society and the world are well taken care of this mother, as well as most people of goodwill I think, will experience the full delight and joy of children.  So, I would like to share how I would like to see the wider community come together for the well being of all children.  Here is this mother’s manifesto.  

First, guarantee equal rights to women.  This will make all mothers equal to men under the law.  As long as women are not considered equal to men, children will suffer because of it.  You can’t have a culture that is fully supportive of children when the mothers are not equal to the fathers under the law.  To address this in our current situation involves endorsing and implementing the Equal Rights Amendment.  That is the first thing that I think needs to happen to improve the standing of children, boys and girls, in our society.

Second, and this should come as a result of number one, but it should be pointed out in and of itself.  Women, mothers, need to receive pay that is equal to men in comparable jobs.  This, too, will vastly improve the well being of children in our society.  

Third on my manifesto and maybe this should have been first because if we don’t get this right, nothing else matters.  But here it is.  I want our society to immediately take drastic measures to address global warming.  This needs an all out effort like the mobilization of our society in World War 2.  Everyone on deck in some way pitching in.  Only in this instance, we battle an enemy that we have created.  Nonetheless, this effort is necessary if children are to be healthy.  Children and young people are suffering from diseases and health conditions that impede their growth and development specifically because of the state of the air and water and food that are intended to sustain them.  In addition, psychologists tell us that young people are suffering from greater anxiety, depression and mental illness than ever before and that this is directly related to the climate crisis.  And this includes the increasing suicide rate among youth.  In these conditions, mothers cannot raise healthy children.  The very air and water and food as well as the future are tainted and toxic.   How can a mother raise a healthy well adjusted child in these circumstances?  The environmental crisis must be attacked with the full force of our industry, technology, economy, and ingenuity.  

Fourth on my manifesto is access to healthcare for everyone including mothers and children.  A mother has to be healthy in body and spirit to be a good mother.  And a good mother provides what her children need for them to be healthy in body and spirit.  But often neither mothers nor children have access to adequate healthcare.  The system we have for healthcare delivery works very well for some.  But it does not work well at all for others.  And now that my husband has retired and we are no longer under an employment related plan, I count myself among those who do not have access to adequate, reasonable healthcare.  The prescriptions I have taken for allergy related asthma for decades now cost $1,000 a month.  I just got them filled in Canada for $133 for a month’s supply.   And I have health insurance.   

To this demand for healthcare, I want to specifically note that women, all women, including young women, must have full access to all healthcare options regarding reproductive health.  That’s a way of saying, abortion, as well as birth control of every kind, must be accessible, safe, affordable, and legal.  A woman has the right to choose whether or not to be a mother with no stigma attached.  When women are equal to men in this country we won’t even be discussing this.  But until women at least have equal rights under the law, we must discuss this because limiting these healthcare options for women is a direct assault on the dignity and equality of human beings with XX chromosomes.  

To have healthy mothers and children, we must deliver quality healthcare to all women and children, as well as to all men.  

Fifth on my manifesto is education.  Not only is much of the approach to education lacking in our country, it is also biased and continues to reinforce the inferiority of girls and women.  Yes, I know that graduation rates are higher for girls, and gee, they let girls be valedictorians but the system is still slanted toward boys and men in the content of the curriculum and in the behavior of many who work in the schools.  How can they help it?  They simply reflect society.  But that is the problem.  Education should not reflect society, it should be shaping society and moving things in a direction toward equality and justice for all.   

No, schools can’t do it all, and we have some amazing teachers in this congregation, but schools can make sure that every child learns how to read and write and communicate and do the math needed for daily life  without a calculator.  Every student needs to learn how to analyze information and think critically.  Every student needs to know how to test the truth claims of the politicians they will vote for.  Every child should have the opportunity through the education system to explore and discover their interests and passions.  They should learn about expression through the arts which offer enrichment, insight, delight, and self-discovery.  Every student should have access to athletics and recess for development of the body and socialization and team work.  Education is our frontline against future problems of many kinds and we are neglecting this defense.  Education is a tool for creating a productive, happy citizenry.   And we are neglecting this pursuit as well.  Along with healthcare, education is key to raising children who are healthy of mind, body, and spirit.  Schools need to be fully funded and filled with the most capable adults we have properly compensated for the critical work they are doing for the well being of society.    

Sixth on my manifesto is a more equitable economic system.  Great schools and wonderful healthcare available to all are needed, but overall, we need some kind of new economic arrangements.  We can’t have youth who are healthy of body, mind, and spirit and who don’t have access to work that satisfies and sustains a person in today’s world.  There are countless mothers in our community who have to work several jobs to keep food on the table for their children.  How are they supposed to also provide enrichment activities, family meals and outings, homework help, wisdom and consolation and inspiration to their children when they have to work constantly just to maintain a precarious material existence?  How much do you have to give if you’ve worked 80 hours at 3 different jobs just to make rent and the grocery bill?  And God forbid the parent get sick and miss work.  The next stop could very well be Family Promise, a ministry that helps homeless families get back on their feet.  The system we have allows the rich to make a killing by abusing the labor resources of this country and this is killing families, parents, and kids.  

Seventh, and last on this mother’s manifesto is reverence for life.  Mothers are life bearers; we bring these precious human beings into the world.  And then they learn to devalue life, maybe of people who are different than they are.  They see people treated like trash, waste, expendable.  They see nature abused and debased.  They learn to take life as they see life taken around them.  Kids witness literally hundreds of killings – in movies, games, and other entertainment.  Killing as sport.  As a mother, a life bearer, I share the views of Julia Ward Howe.  Our sons and daughters “shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have taught them of charity, mercy and patience.”  Exactly.  I want society to reinforce the reverence for life that we teach in our homes and here in church.  That is what is conducive to raising healthy children who respect themselves and others as well as the natural world.  

So, those are the seven things on this mother’s manifesto:  Equal rights for women, equal pay for women, stop the climate crisis, healthcare for all, high quality education for all, a just economic system, and reverence for life.  That is what I want in the world for my children and all children.  That is the kind of world that supports mothers and fathers in their parenting.  That is what creates a society offering life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to all.  Fathers you are not left out of this.  Those who are not parents, you are also not left out of this.  Creating a world that is healthy for all children means creating a world that is healthy for boys, fathers, and men, as well as all girls and women.  It also means creating a world that is healthy for those who identify as none of the above and who consider themselves gender fluid.  A world that is good for children is good for everyone!

Nature teaches us about species that protect their young.  When there is a threat, adult elephants will form a circle around the youngsters and protect them.  This is common in the natural world; adult animals banding together to nurture the offspring so that they flourish.  Nature teaches us about being devoted to the wellbeing of the young.  Like other animals, when we do this, we are fulfilling our role in nature and thus praising God.  [See Psalm 148] 

You may have thought you would hear some soaring ode to motherhood this morning.  Motherhood, it is glorious.  It has treasures and delights and challenges that are beyond expectation.  It is a holy calling.  But for mothers to know the full joy of their role, for children to be blessed fully by those who mother them, our society needs to make the nurturing of children and young people top priority ahead of getting rich and before getting re-elected.  

This past week, the world has oo-ed and ah-ed at the birth of a biracial baby named Archie [son of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle].  It has been a wonderful glimmer of joy, a relief really, in the midst of the news about the trade war with China, the constitutional crisis, the border problems, extreme weather events, and the horror of another school shooting, among other things.  In the midst of that sludge, the world celebrated the birth of a beautiful baby.  And that baby will have every advantage that can be provided.  But you shouldn’t have to marry a prince to be able to raise a healthy child in this world.   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.

Scripture Lesson:  John 21:1-19                                                                                                Pastor:  Rev. Kim P. Wells

Apparently, scholars pretty much agree that the post crucifixion story that we heard this morning from the gospel of John was an add on.  It is thought that at one time the gospel ended earlier and that this story, and some other stories, were added on.  They were added because it was felt that they were needed by the faith community for whom the gospel was written.  I think this story also speaks to our needs today.  

I think if someone were creating this gospel today, they very well might choose to end it after the catch of fish and breakfast.  The disciples have gone fishing and caught nothing.  They are tired and frustrated.  This figure calls from the shore and tells them to cast the nets on the other side  of the boat and the catch is enormous.  This guy is great!  He can help you grow your business!  

That would almost be an Horatio Alger story.  Someone disadvantaged gets a little help and then through hard work becomes a huge business success.  

And the story goes on.  Not only is there an immense catch of fish, threatening to overturn the boat, but breakfast is waiting.  They get to shore and the fire is made and the fish is cooking.  It’s a free breakfast.  Wow!  This is a deal.  Not just a real meal, or a happy meal, or a square meal, but a FREE meal.  In today’s world, this could definitely be put across in a marketing plan to get more followers.  If someone was writing this gospel today they could very well end the gospel right there with a business coup and free food.  Now that is really good news!  

But the gospel writer or editor of the first century did not end there but went on; went on to give us a true Jesus ending.  An ending that reinforces what Jesus’ followers need to know and remember – then and now.  Feed my lambs.  Tend my sheep.  Feed my sheep.  It’s a triply reinforced commitment to service; to other centered living, to the wellbeing of the vulnerable, to remembering those who are forgotten, to caring for those who are suffering.  It’s a call to compassion.  And, evidently, it is important enough to be repeated three times, yes, to balance Peter’s three denials, but also a nod to our tendency to forget things that may not be to our liking.  

This teaching shows Jesus’ concern for our well-being and wholeness.  Jesus knows that to be whole and healthy and joyful, yes, we need food for the body and other practical material necessities.  But there is no wholeness, no true peace, no well-being without tending to the spirit as well.  And we feed our spirits, we tend our souls, we nurture our highest good, in other centered living, in service to others.  

Scientists today have proven that a troubled spirit contributes to a troubled body.  Stress and anxiety are known to have bodily repercussions effecting things like blood pressure and the immune system that fights off sickness and disease.  Scientists have also documented that doing good and helping others has positive physical effects on the body.  

So full health, wholeness, and joy involve the body and the spirit.  Jesus can’t just give the disciples fish and send them on their way.  He loves them too much for that.  He must remind them of their calling to serve.  Too often the teaching of the church has focussed on what people will get from following Jesus and ignored what they need to give.  The blessings that Jesus teaches about come through giving.  This is reinforced again and again in the gospels and this is how John’s gospel draws to a close.  With a reinforcement of that vision of service.  That is the last thing, the thing that needs to be remembered.  

Maybe you heard the news story earlier this week about the two sixth grade students who were plotting to carry out a mass shooting at an elementary school in Tennessee.  One of the parents in our congregation drew my attention to the story.  The two students had drawn a map of the school and planned to hide weapons in the locker room.  The intent was to proceed with the killings on the last day of school and then for the two sixth graders to kill themselves.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/29/two-6th-graders-charged-connection-school-shooting-plot/3623155002/

Yes, this is horrific and disturbing.  And what may be even worse is that we are becoming to numb to such stories because they have become so common.  Here is my reaction when I hear of these terrible things.  Usually, my first thought, unbidden, is “people need the church.”  It’s my first reaction.  People need the church.  People need a solid community of shared values in which to deal with such horrors.  They need a community of support to face this kind of trauma, and re-trauma, and post-trauma.  People need meaningful relationships with caring honest people, a community of love and support and hope.  Oh, how we need hope!  People also need a community of common morals, values, and behavior based on reverence for life.  This is what we have at church.  Church can help us not only deal with these horrors but create communities and societies where these things are far less likely to happen.  Yes, church has this potential.  To be the catalyst for transforming society.  

I think the increase in violence and horrific acts and behavior in our society and the decrease in religious participation are related.  Our society needs what the church has to offer, what we have found here at Lakewood, and what thousands of people find in their churches and faith communities across the country.  

Yet many people in our country and community today have no idea what there is at church.  They are simply ignorant.  They don’t know that church is a community of belonging, support, and shared concern for the common good.  They don’t know that church is a place to learn and grow and pursue your highest good.  They don’t know that often what is lacking in their lives is a commitment to service because this is not engendered in society as a whole.  And without the teaching, feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep, we cannot be whole and live abundantly.  

I think many people have the idea that church is about having a certain belief system based on some special personal revelation.  And they don’t feel like they have had that lightening bolt spiritual experience so they think that church is not for them.  Church can be that.  But often church is about a slow, mysterious unfolding through our life’s journey that is transforming us into our best selves.  We find that when we tend and care and feed and help others, we come into our fullest wellbeing and joy.  Church is always to be a place to be encouraged to serve and a place to expect compassion and support.  Many people today simply do not know that.  

Albert Schweitzer, the famous physician, musician, and theologian sparked the early 20th century quest for the historical Jesus.  He tells us:  “He [Jesus] comes to us as one unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake-side, he came to those men who knew him not.  He speaks to us the same word:  ‘Follow thou me!’ and sets us to the tasks which he has to fulfill for our time.  He commands.  And to those who obey him, whether they be wise or simple, he will reveal himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they will pass through in his fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience who he is.”  [Quoted in Texts for Preaching:  A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV-Year C, from Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, p. 403]    Schweitzer tells us that in our obedience we find Jesus.  In our service and other centered living which liberates us from the tyranny of the self, we come to know Jesus.  As we receive the goodness and generosity of others, we come to know Jesus.  

People are desperately in need of the orientation for living that Jesus teaches.  There is a hunger for this in our land.  We see the evidence in the lack of moral fiber, the lack of commitment to community values, in the greed and power abuse and violence around us.  It’s in everything from the shootings at schools and religious services to the congressional hearings and regressive, immoral actions of the Florida legislature to the movies and entertainment we consume.   The need for the church is evident in the crazy, sick headlines that assault us continuously.     

Ok.  But there’s a good chance many people don’t go to church because they don’t know what goes on at church or what it’s about and no one has ever invited them.  So, people need church but how are people going to find their way to church?  To a community of support and compassion?  How are they going to know that this is a place of spiritual healing and wholeness?  Friends, we have to tell them.  Yes, tell them.  The church can produce swank ads and flyers and billboards but what is most effective in drawing people to church is – word of mouth.  I know that it can be uncomfortable to bring up church with coworkers, new neighbors, strangers, friends, but our society needs us to get over this and find ways to invite people to this space of healing and growth.  

And if you would like some pointers about doing this, I encourage you to speak with the elders of this congregation because they are stars at inviting new people to church!

To be well, as individuals and a society, yes, our material needs must be met but so must our spiritual needs.  In many ways, we are not doing very well at either in today’s world.  The church is so very needed.  Feed my lambs.  Tend my sheep.  Feed my sheep.  

We close with words from a song I heard recently at a folk festival:

There’s no retirement in the service of the master:                                                           There’s no end to the things that he can do.                                                                                   If you live your life in service to another,                                                                               Every day will bring blessings anew.  

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.

Unfortunately, we have not been successful in finding an attribution for the song quoted at the end of the sermon.  If you have any information about it, please contact the church.  Thank you!

Easter Sunday Intergenerational Service                                                                                  April 21, 2019                                                                                                                                    Rev. Kim P. Wells

Last year, a bird made a nest in a bush right outside the office window here at church.  First there was the nest.  Then there were eggs in the nest.  Then there were baby birds in the nest.   And one day, the nest was empty.  It was beautiful to watch the process of new life unfold.  The babies had to come out of their eggshells to enjoy this big beautiful world.  We see this same process with the little lizards, anoles, that we have in our yards and with many other animals.  The eggshell holds the new creature until it is time for a new stage of life and then the shell cracks open and new life emerges.  

Easter is in the springtime because spring is the season for new life.  Farm animals have babies in the spring.  Butterflies come out of their chrysalises which are like a shell.  Plants also emerge with new life in the spring.  Seeds and bulbs break open under the ground, like an eggshell, and then new plants appear.  Flowers open.  Bushes blossom.  Trees get new leaves.   Easter has to be in the spring because Easter is a celebration of new life.  Easter eggs remind us of animals being born out of an egg into this wonderful world.  New life.  

At Easter in church we listen to the story of Jesus’ being killed and buried in a tomb.  The tomb was thought to be like a small cave.  The dead body was put inside and a large stone was used to close up the opening.  In the story we tell at Easter, we hear about how Jesus’ friends go to his tomb three days after he was buried and the stone is moved away and the tomb is empty. 

The Easter story tells us that Jesus’ body was gone from the tomb but that his spirit lives on in new exciting ways.  It was as if he cracked out of an eggshell to a new life.  And his friends and followers emerged into new life, too.  They came out of their shells of fear and sadness and were excited to spread love in the world the way Jesus did.  Jesus lived on in his friends.  His love could not be contained in the tomb.  It had to break out into the world.  And that love still lives on in the world today.  

The story of Easter and the symbol of the eggs remind us that we, too, can break out of our shells to enjoy new wondrous life in this world.  Jesus invites us to a new way of being in the world.  He shows us how love can transform our lives. Jesus wants us to break out of our shells so that we can live a beautiful life in this amazing world.  Jesus wants us to live in peace.  He wants everyone to be treated fairly and to have what they need to live.  He wants us to learn and grow and help others.  He wants us to take delight in the incredible wonder of life and this glorious world.  

To do that, to be part of that kind of reality, we have to break out of our shells.  Sometimes we think things, say things, and do things that hold us back from experiencing life in the new reality that Jesus shows us.  When we break out of our shells, these things change.  

When we join Jesus and live in his reality, we are no longer afraid of other people.  When we meet people who don’t look like us, or talk like us, or eat the food we eat, or wear clothes like ours we know not to be afraid of them.  Maybe you have felt afraid when a new student comes into your class at school and the student seems different in some way.  New life in Jesus show us that every person is a child of God.  Every person needs food and love and a safe place to live.  Every person has the ability to do good things and to do bad things.  People are very much alike.  When we break out of our shell of fear and are part of the new life Jesus offers, we no longer judge people by how they look but, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. put it, by the “content of their character.”  New life out of the shell shows us that diversity is beautiful and it makes life better for everyone.  

When we join Jesus to live in his reality we break out of our shell and live in peace.  We learn that when people disagree or have different ideas, they don’t have to get out a gun or start a war to work things out.  In Jesus’ reality, even when you want to do something good, you don’t use violence to make it happen.  Movies for all ages brainwash us into accepting violence as a powerful tool for doing good.  It’s not like that in the new reality of Jesus.  

In the world of Jesus, we create a peaceful world using peaceful means.  Hitting someone doesn’t make things better.  It degrades the hitter as well as the one who was hit.  Jesus shows us that in the new world, people resolve differences through peaceful, nonviolent means.  They talk things over and work to find solutions that will work for everyone.  Peer mediators in schools are wonderful models of how this works.  We aren’t going to have safer schools by giving guns to teachers.  We aren’t going to have a more peaceful world by maintaining a huge supply of nuclear weapons.  In Jesus’ new reality we see that you cannot use violence to create peace.  When we break out of our shells into the new world of Jesus, we see this truth.  We work to create peace through peaceful means.  

When we break out of our shells into the new reality of Jesus we see money in a new way.  We see money as a tool for meeting our needs and the needs of others.  It is useful for helping us get the things we need to live well like food and clothes and a place to live and health care and education.  But money does not give us meaning or purpose.  Every person is special and important regardless of how much money they have.  Everyone can live with meaning and purpose regardless of economic status.  

In Jesus’ new reality, we see that there is plenty of money in the world for everyone to have what they need.  We do not need to be driven by greed.  We can be generous and giving so that everyone is taken care of. There is more than enough money in the world to restore Notre Dame Cathedral and to make sure every person has access to food and health care.  What about being happy about paying our taxes because they are paying for great schools and wonderful libraries and the arts and preserving nature and providing health care and protecting the vulnerable and funding renewable energy and efficient transportation?  April 15 should be a celebration in support of the common good.  When we break out of our shell into new life with Jesus, we can see things about money in a new way.  

When we break out of our shell we become part of a new world; God’s dreams made real.  We join Jesus in creating a wonderful world for every person and all forms of life.  We treat ourselves and others and creation with compassion and reverence.  

I recently heard about a couple that participated in an adult education class at their church about homosexuality.  In the class they learned about being gay and what the Bible has to say about it.  They learned about accepting this as part of the wonderful diversity of creation.  

Sometime after the class the couple’s adult son, who lived in another city, called his parents, to finally reveal to them that he was gay.  His mother said, Yes, we know.  We took a class about it at church.  It’s ok.  After a brief chat, he called back later in the day.  He asked, Do you know what I told you?    Yes, we know.  It’s ok.  And that was it.  The son was stunned.  These people had broken out of their shell and were in the new wondrous world of love that Jesus shows us.  

Birds and other animals break out of their shells to experience new life.  We have to break open an Easter egg to get to the candy.  Easter invites us to break out of the shells that prevent us from living life full and free.  We can imagine the floor of the church littered with eggshells as we emerge into a new life – of peace and purpose, joy and wonder.  And don’t forget – eggshells make great fertilizer.  They help things grow.  So let’s break free and grow into new life with Jesus.  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.