Heritage Presbyterian Church

Love Grows Here

Sunday’s Sermon – Put Your Best Foot Forward – Ephesians 6:10-20

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What do you, or did you, need to start the school year off right? A special new lunchbox? A fresh box of crayons? Those yellow number 2 pencils? Chances are, in addition to your own favorites, you were checking off a school supply list from a teacher. Some are even quite detailed, down to the color of the folders with or without brads in the middle. The purpose of these lists, I think, among other things, is to help get students prepared with everything they might need for the coming year. And even if we are not in class anymore, some of us love to walk those aisles with a sense of nostalgia, or the joy of that new box of crayons for ourselves.

Even as adults we often make sure we have the supplies we need before we begin a project. It’s a good plan to do this before attempting to assemble a piece of furniture, for example. For other projects, failing to do so means at least 5 trips to Home Depot to get the right tools or items needed for your fix. I’m keenly aware of this as a natural instinct right now, as we’re about 5 weeks or so from my due date, and that “nesting” desire is setting in, prompting us to prep the nursery, clean the house, and make plans for the arrival of our second child. The point in all of these instances is to get ready with everything you’ll need to make the process as smooth as it can be. It’s living out the Boy Scout motto, “be prepared,” and anticipating what might be needed along the way.

The verses we have read this month from the letter to the Ephesians have all revolved around this kind of preparation for the early Christians – both the eager anticipation of Christ’s return and trying to figure out how to navigate life as believers in the context of a challenging world. Historians believe that:

the community of Christians, called “Ephesians” may have lived somewhere in Asia Minor during the first two centuries CE. They were religious minorities in the Roman Empire. Christianity was illegal until 313[i].

In this context, we are reminded of the persecution and struggle the early church had in relation to living in the Roman Empire. This is the root of the idea of “spiritual warfare,” where people of faith were up against a lot, and trying to make sense of a new way of belief in and amongst significant influences that often pushed against the cores of following Jesus. One commentary notes:

If they were in fact in Ephesus, they may have been taken to worship the emperor at the newly constructed temple of Domitian to test their allegiance. Ephesus was also a thriving commercial city and the cultic center of goddess Artemis[ii]

Recognizing that these Christians would be up against a lot, to the point where it would feel like a significant battle, the writer leaves them with a “supply list” for living the Christian life to help them survive the struggles they might face both externally and internally.

The imagery may seem strange to us, even off-putting. It certainly is militaristic and heavy with images of battle that most of us don’t encounter every day. In this, remembering the context is particularly important. For what the writer gives is not a list of advanced weaponry, but rather a significant list of defensive and protective items, meant to withstand, not necessarily conquer. This is particularly important when we consider the ways in which Christians have utilized such battle metaphors to justify holy wars and conflicts in the following centuries, the Crusades being a notable example, but not the only one. The purpose of this “equipment list” was not to create some sort of “army” for God, but rather to help Christ followers to “put their best foot forward” into living the life to which we have been called (see Ephesians 4).

This morning, I want to borrow from my colleague Rev. Sara Nave Fisher, and suggest a modernized look at these items as a way of understanding how they might continue to be our  “discipleship supply list” for Christian living today[iii]:

First – the belt of truth we might consider as an identification badge or credentials.

the “belt” of Roman armor wasn’t just a way to keep pants in place – it was more like a badge, it was how they showed rank – their experiences, who they wereiii.

Perhaps we show our rank visually with some sort of symbol of our faith. Like a fish or bumper sticker on the back of our car, or a cross necklace. In this, we proclaim our allegiance first to God, rather than anything else that would otherwise claim us. The belt is placed at the center of our being. This represents what we stand for that holds it all together at our very core.

The breastplate of righteousness is similar. It is where we show our true colors. It’s more than just whether we are wearing red and black or white and gold to identify with our team. It’s about carrying ourselves in a way that when people see us, they see reflections of God. Both become almost a uniform that helps us proclaim not just who we are, but who God is.

Next, the shoes on our feet. The verse here isn’t so specific about what kind of footwear, but rather reminds us of the purpose of it – whatever will make us ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. For some of us, that’s sneakers so we’re ready to go. For others, it’s orthopedic shoes that we might not be slowed down by any ailment. Maybe for you it’s leopard print high heels that command attention and give a sense of power and fun to your message. For some it’s boots – cowboy, combat, or steel-toe – meant for hard work and heavy liftingiii. It could even be flip-flops, representing a laid-back attitude that creates a sense of comfort and ease in conversation. Whatever it is for you, the writer tells you to put your shoes on so that you’ll be ready to go when the time comes. It’s about being prepared, after all. Our shoes can help give us the traction to make it through even challenging and uneven terrain, digging in as needed with cleats or tread, or perhaps gliding across a smooth dance floor for conversations that require more gentleness. It’s not about stomping around; it’s about taking the right steps.

Fourth, the shield of faith. This one is clearly meant to deflect and defend, perhaps offering some sort of barrier or buffer between you and the challenges of the day. The shield can help take the brunt of the blow, or offer additional time to reflect before responding.

Perhaps a modern equivalent might be a “backpack of faith” or some sort of toolkit that holds additional supplies to strengthen us in our faith. Because people will disagree with us – they may loudly disagreeiii.

That’s a natural consequence of proclaiming peace with those special shoes, and sometimes we need something else to pull from to make it through.

Next, the helmet of salvation, that thing we need to keep on the top of our minds. Or, put another way, the “sunglasses of salvation,” the lens through which we see the world.

Above all else, we have salvation. Even when our shields fail, even when our breastplate is infiltrated, we have salvation. No matter what, we have a God who saves us. Because at the end of the day it isn’t about us or what we do about who we are – the good news of the Gospel is about who God isiii.

The helmet of salvation reminds us of the connection that should exist between our head and the core of our being – that belt of truth, and guides our thoughts and actions to become extensions of that understanding above all else. It also means seeing the world through the eyes of a God who saves; this means extending grace and forgiveness to each other, just as we have been forgiven in Christ.

Finally, the writer gives one item – the sword of the Spirit. Fortunately, this one comes with a bit more explanation – he’s talking about the Word of God, which has the power to transform and change and cut through even the most difficult circumstances with good news. Let’s liken this to a collection of sharpened pencils. A lot of school supply lists nowadays have not just pencils on the list, but specifically indicate that they are to be sharpened, and for good reason. First, quite simply, an unsharpened pencil is not tremendously useful for writing. It needs to be shaped and worked before it’s usable. Good teachers and administrators have learned to do this in advance. In the middle of a test is not the time you want a room full of students having to sharpen their pencils. It’s loud, noisy, and distracting, and it takes time away for the work you should be doing. Having the pencils sharpened already makes you ready to jump right in for the task at hand, whether it’s taking notes or taking a test.

Using the sharpened pencils of the word of God means that we know the Bible so well, we have spent time studying and understanding, and we can have conversations about itiii.

Note, this doesn’t mean we are supposed to use the Bible as a weapon. In the movie Saved, the lead character literally throws her Bible at a classmate trying to get her to change what the character believes is wayward living. That’s not the intention of God’s Word. Rather, it is meant to shape us and guide us. So, having sharpened pencils of this word is about recognizing the power inherent in the Spirit’s movement as we read and study the Bible together, and knowing it has the power to change even us:

It’s knowing that God’s word cuts through evil, not through each other. It cuts through racism and through classism and division of all kinds – again, not through each otheriii.

It’s trusting that, in the end, as the Psalmist proclaims, the Word of the Lord will endure forever, even as everything else fades away. In this way, it can become like a permanent marker I suppose, but the pencil reminds us of how the Spirit is continually moving and providing shading and different levels of understanding, allowing us even to erase some of our preconceived notions and correct our own answers about faith.

What a list, right? With these items in our cart, we should have everything we need to lead lives of faithfulness to Christ. And we might be tempted to rush out and seek to check them all off the list. Here’s the hitch, though. They aren’t necessarily easy to find. We won’t be able to make a quick run through Target’s school supply aisle and grab them all, and that’s not just because those aisles in stores are quickly being replaced with Halloween costumes and Christmas decorations. It’s because this list from Ephesians:

Isn’t an external list that we have to go shop for. It’s one that has already been given to us by Godiii.

That reminder comes to us again and again in Ephesians, ringing out like a well-known chorus. It is God who fills us with the resources we need to go about this discipleship business, through the gifts of grace that come alongside the good news of Jesus Christ. Ephesians offers the reminder that it’s been within us all along, and urges believers to dig deeper into themselves to discover it, and then use it.

Our bags are already packed! God has made us ready to go! We just have to remember to take it with us when we go out the door. May we be prepared in the best way we can, putting on all God has already given us, so that each day we can “put our best foot forward” and walk into the journey of faith and life before us. Amen.

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
August 26, 2018

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[i] Haruko Nawata Ward, “Theological Perspective: Ephesians 6:10-20,” Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 3, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009).
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Many of these parallels from Rev. Sara Nave Fisher, “Armor,” sermon delivered August 19, 2018. Shared with Rev. Elizabeth Milford on August 22, 2018.

Sunday’s Sermon – Homeroom Lessons: Use Time Wisely – Ephesians 5:15-20

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Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles
In laughter, in strife

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life[i]

This song opens the second act of the popular musical Rent, as characters reflect on what has been and what is to come, wondering what to make of it all. The answer supplied by the chorus? “Measure in love.”

Time is one of the most fascinating concepts of our lives. While we have made it into an objective fact, marked by ticking clocks and the turning of calendar pages, it also can be a quite subjective or even relative thing. Some things seem to take forever, while others pass in the blink of an eye. In school, I remember teachers giving us assignments to complete in certain amounts of time and reminding us to “use time wisely!” – in other words, we needed to get down to work to make sure the task was complete. It’s a valuable life skill to be sure. Our lives are governed by our sense of time in a lot of ways, which means that we spend a fair amount of energy on time management. In fact, it can make the difference in whether we are on time for an appointment, or sitting on 75 stuck in traffic because we have, yet again, grossly misestimated how long it will take us to get downtown.

This morning, though, I’d like to consider this gift of time as a bit more than just how we accomplish our busy schedules.  Time, you see, is also a theological concept. In Greek, this is reflected by the use of two different words to recognize time. The first, chronos, as in the root of our word chronological, talks about sequential and ordered time. The second, kairos, is the one we find in our text today from Ephesians, which gets at something bigger. Namely, it calls us to consider time as the right, critical, or opportune moment, particularly in relation to God’s timing and purpose.

In this section of moral instructions in chapter 5, the author speaks to this understanding of time, urging the Ephesians to be wise and make the most of the time they have been given. One more language note: the Greek verb that appears alongside time in verse 16 translates literally as “buy back” or “redeem,” which stands in contrast to the verses it follows that include warnings about not getting caught up in the pagan ways that surround them. Instead, the writer argues, Christians should remain awake and alert. In other words, we have been given the gift of “time” from God, but it’s up to us to make it into something worthwhile, moving from chronos to kairos.

So – what does this look like? This week I came across a video by an inspirational speaker named Jay Shetty. He grew up in London, England and holds a degree with honors in Behavioral Science. Inspired to make a difference in the world, he spent 3 years after graduation living as a monk across India and Europe, spending time in meditation and service to others. After this, he returned to London and eventually was invited by a business school friend to speak to those undergoing intense stress in the workplace, which has led over the past two years into a remarkable social media presence among other speaking engagements. I want to share a three-minute clip of one of his videos, which speaks to the idea of time and how we might value it, and offer you the opportunity to consider your own relationship with time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPaS85IA6oY

[ii]

How do we value time? That is at the heart of today’s text from Ephesians. In many ways, Jay Shetty modernizes the concept in this video, but in ways that reflect the Epistle’s intentions. Both prompt us, perhaps in uneasy ways, to think about the ways we allocate the minutes or seconds we are given each day. I’ll be the first to admit that more time than I would like is what I could categorize as “wasted time.” You know, the things that start as a short break, and the next thing you know, you’ve “lost” 30 minutes or more on some frivolous activity? It doesn’t always have to be watching tv or scrolling Facebook, either. Sometimes we get distracted by things that are otherwise productive; like when you go to put something away and end up reorganizing the entire closet, leaving your original tasks incomplete. I’m not sure exactly what the challenges were for first-century Christians, but I imagine they must have had their own examples, much like we do today. It’s easy to lose a sense of intention about our time, or to have the best intentions and lose track of it.

These verses help remind us of the ways in which our lives as Christians call us to mark and observe time in different ways. It’s not unlike the most basic instructions God gave to Moses and the people of Israel in the 10 Commandments to work for 6 days and then set aside one to rest – sabbath. It seems the Almighty has always been concerned with how we shape our time. And here in Ephesians 5, we get a reminder of it, with the call to participate in worship. As G. Porter Taylor notes:

Worship of God redeems the time. It orients the person to the Almighty and keeps his or her life in right relation [iii].

Worship here, of course, is not about a chronos understanding of one hour on a Sunday morning. It’s about a kairos understanding of time, as we seek to fill our lives with an awareness of the holy, so that we might be filled by the Spirit to the point where not just our voices sing, but our entire hearts take part in the melody. When we live in this way, we are truly embracing our vocational calling from God, which of course has implications for how we spend our time, and our lives become marked not by seconds, minutes, hours, days, or years, but by a sense of God’s ongoing purpose in our own lives and the world, and our active participation in it.

Sometimes, though, it can take some work to figure out what this means. It involves investing our time in reflection and worship to listen for that call. Consider this: worship –  that time spent here in the Sanctuary, or engaged in Bible Study or service, or your own personal prayer life or other spiritual disciplines – is a lot like going to the gym. You can go and clock in a certain amount of time, but the actual time spent in the location is not what guarantees you the results; it is going to involve what you put into it. If all of your time “working out” is spent looking in the mirror, or perfecting the playlist, or making sure your outfit is the most-trendy, you might not get in the best shape. But if you pay attention to your form, push yourself to new limits, and maybe even check-in with a personal trainer or work-out buddy, chances are you will start to see some improvement. And then, beyond the time in the gym, comes the importance of rest days in between, a healthy diet, and even some cross-training that might happen in other locations. All of these, together, contribute to a healthier lifestyle marked by wise uses of your time in order for you to be at your best self. Our spiritual lives are not that different. They take intention and work. What better way than to start with how we approach something as simple and basic as time?

The early monastic communities and many people of faith for centuries have done this by “keeping the divine office,” that is pausing at certain times of day for regular intervals of prayer. This “Liturgy of the Hours” provides an ongoing reminder that we are to be oriented in a spirit of worship, seeking to move through our days not just with accomplishing a to-do list, but with a sense of our time, and our lives, being holy. Give it a try this week, whether it’s setting an alarm every few hours, or just one at a certain point in your day, to pause and reflect prayerfully on God’s presence in your life and your sense of what it means to live as a disciple. Such a simple practice can truly change how you see your life and the world around you. All it takes is a few moments of well-spent time.

And that is what the writer of Ephesians was hoping those Christ-followers would do – see the world through a different lens, a worshipful one, that just might help them make the most of the time they had been given by God until Christ returned. In the end, these verses echo our teachers’ instructions for any task at hand, broadened to the task of living: Use Time Wisely! May it be so.

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
August 19, 2018

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[i] Jonathan Larson, “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent. Universal Music Publishing Group.
[ii] Jay Shetty, “Before you Waste Time” Video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPaS85IA6oY, accessed 8/16/18.
[iii] G. Porter Taylor, “Theological Perspective: Ephesians 5:15-20,” Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 3, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009).

Sunday’s Sermon – Homeroom Lessons: Make Good Choices – Ephesians 4:1-16

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A fun and engaging way to get to know others, whether in a large group or passing time on a long road trip, is to ask each other a series of questions beginning with the phrase “Would you rather?,” giving two choices and inviting the responder to share why they picked one over the other. Let’s try it for a few rounds. I’ll let you point to the designated side of the sanctuary, and make a short comment to your pew-mate after each pairing. Ready?

  • Would you rather . . . go on vacation to the mountains or the beach?
  • Would you rather . . . be completely invisible for one day, or be able to fly for one day?
  • Would you rather . . . give up watching tv or movies or give up going out to eat for a year?
  • Would you rather . . . always be 10 minutes late, or always be 20 minutes early?
  • Would you rather . . .  know all the mysteries of the universe or know every outcome of each decision you make? [i]

Every day, we are faced with an almost endless number of choices to make. What to wear, what to do, how to respond to any given situation. Our choices might be easy and quick, or require more information or deliberation. Some of these choices give us more options than others. Sometimes we are choosing between two things and neither of them is particularly appealing. And, of course, different choices carry different levels of meaning or importance in our lives. That is sometimes, but not always, reflected in the time we take to make them. I might, for example, only take a few moments to select which shoes to wear, but take longer to decide that I want to spend the rest of my life married to another person. Ultimately, what we choose can say a lot about us, whether it is simply a preference for an activity or lifestyle, or a reflection of a deeply-seated belief.

This morning, our text from Ephesians prompts us to reflect on the choices we make as we think about how we are “living our lives,” and whether or not they are in line with the “calling” we have as God’s people. This letter is often believed to be a kind of circular letter written by an associate or student of Paul’s, and includes exposition on the centrality of Christ, including a grand vision of what God has done and what is given to and through the church. Then, in this passage, the writer turns from the big picture to answering the “so what?” question of how this new reality might play out in the everyday life of the church, with discussion of the unity of the church and the ongoing sanctification of believers. That is, the ways in which our lives reflect God’s holiness. Ephesians, like many of the epistles, takes on a moral character and instruction for life. Not because it is what wins us God’s favor, that much is made clear in earlier verses, but because it matters how we respond to God’s grace. In essence, much of the letter, including these verses, shout that message we may have heard from a parent as we climbed onto the schoolbus or got out of the drop-off line, or shared by a homeroom teacher as we began our day: “Make Good Choices!” Our lives as Christians should be those that reflect the good news we believe.  The large theological catchphrase for this is “embodiment” – which simply means that the beliefs we hold and witness we give can and should be reflected in our words and actions. The smaller acronymn that fits on a bracelet is something like WWJD – What Would Jesus Do? – implying that before we say or do something, we’ve put some thought into whether or not it is in line with the teachings of the one we claim to follow. It’s tough work, even for the most faithful, who seem to clearly be called for God’s purpose.

Ask David. His story is one marked from the beginning as being chosen by God, shepherded in unlikely ways to become king.  But by 2 Samuel, the story takes a turn. To say David does not make good choices is a vast understatement. Chapter 11, just before what we read this morning, reveals more than just a series of bad choices. It is a devastating story of as repugnant a series of events as perhaps may be imagined, from his rooftop voyeurism and sexual exploitation of Bathsheba to his deception and attempts to cover it up by manipulating her husband Uriah to his savage final resolution of not only arranging for Uriah’s death, but the death of all who serve under his command. His actions are reprehensible and beyond excuse. They are difficult to stomach, and almost impossible to preach, because as tempting as it is to skip ahead to the ways in which the narrative redeems David, these verses are atrocious. So why attend to these chapters today, or in the 3 year cycle of the lectionary at all? One commentator notes:

This lection is one of the greatest passages in the entire Bible, for it not only makes a devastating statement about the moral priorities of God, but it also abandons sentimentality and romanticism to portray the human condition as it actually is[ii].

God’s response to David, if you keep reading into chapter 12, is to hold David accountable for these decisions, sending the prophet Nathan to condemn him and call him out for the choices he has made, prompting a confession and cleansing. In fact, it is believed that Psalm 51, which we often read on Ash Wednesday and which inspired our Prayer of Confession today, was David’s repentance and plea to God following his visit with Nathan. And it should be noted, since we will not continue to read this part of the text in the coming weeks, that while David goes on in continued service to God, his life is not all magically rosy. It is still fraught with pain and difficulty, related in part to his poor decisions. From this overall context, we learn that in the midst of grace and forgiveness, David’s choices still have real consequences. Life is lived in between these two truths.

The prophet Nathan exposes that David’s behavior is driven by self-interest and impulse, rather than a focus on God. He did not engage in some sort of discernment for how his faith and trust in God might guide him; he simply did what looked and felt good for his own gain. Such decision making methodology is often short-lived, and certainly falls short of the calling God has placed on God’s people. David’s story reminds us that “making good choices” is about much more than just selecting things that make us the happiest. They involve an attentiveness to something bigger than us. That is what the writer of Ephesians is getting at, too. As a people of faith:

We confess that there is a purpose other than our own that is being worked through our life. Our growth is to become more responsive and attentive to, and congenial with, that   larger purpose on which we do not get to vote[iii].

This larger purpose connects us to others. David missed this mark, to say the least. To frame it in light of of Ephesians:

he is not “worthy,” because he did not yield his gifts to his community. He refused to live by God’s gifts, trying to seize a peculiar destiny for himself[iv].

It is no coincidence that the writer of Ephesians uses the word “one” seven times in just two verses in chapter 4. This passage drives home the idea that our decision-making happens not just on an individual level in isolation, but in community with others with whom we are supposed to live in unity.  The writer continues to talk more about what this unity looks like, and presents a few core aspects to help readers understand unity, which hopefully inspires us to make choices that seek to build others up into this unity that comes in the body of Christ.  G. Porter Turner notes that:

The tools for this body are humility, gentleness, and patience. Humility keeps us grounded in the reality of who we are as creatures formed from the dust by God. Gentleness reminds us of our corporate identity . . . Finally, we are patient because we live in time. [with an awareness that] the kingdom of God is a gift from God, not a work achieved by humans[v].

These tools, among the others that are revealed throughout the letter to the Ephesians, all point to a unity that binds God’s people together in love through Jesus Christ. This is the high calling of those who follow Christ, and the decisions that we make should always be oriented around this purpose. It is not some accidental phenomenon; it requires ongoing, active work to make it happen. Remember those choices? They’re going to come each and every day. Ephesians serves as that homeroom reminder of the importance of attending to them, not just cruising through life without thought. People of faith are called to live with the intention of building each other up in love and charged with the extraordinarily difficult task of being knit together as one.

The good news is, we have been prepared for this task, because of the one who unites us – Jesus Christ:

“Christ’s body” is that place at the intersection of divine and human life where sovereignty, brokenness, and communion are held together in God’s grace[vi].

That is the unity we celebrate with the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, gathering around this table not as individuals, but as the body of Christ, made one through the bread and the cup. Here, at this table, we come to proclaim that we are one, and declare our intention to follow Christ, making decisions that might contribute to that unity, until he comes again. So may we celebrate this feast together in unity, asking God to fill us once again and equip us for the lives to which we have been called, going from here to live and serve in Christ’s name, with choices that match. Amen.

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
August 5, 2018

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[i] Questions taken from https://conversationstartersworld.com/would-you-rather-questions/, accessed 8/4/2018.
[ii] Walter Brueggemann, Charles B. Cousar, Beverly R. Gaventa, James D. Newsome,  Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV – Year B, (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993).
[iii]     Ibid.
[iv]    Ibid.
[v]  G. Porter Taylor, “Theological Perspective: Ephesians 4:1-16,” Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 3, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009).
[vi] Richard E. Ward, “Homiletical Perspective: Ephesians 4:1-16,” Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 3, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009).

Sunday’s Sermon: Good Foundations – 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, Matthew 7:24-27

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I love home renovation shows. I’m a particular sucker for the Property Brothers. It’s fascinating to watch them transform spaces with facelifts that make them look and feel like totally new homes. Once you’ve watched a few episodes, you feel like an expert yourself, and learn to expect a few things along the way, like when renovating older homes, there will always be some surprises, from its asbestos under the tiles to knob and tube wiring. Recently in the competition series Brother vs Brother, both brothers discovered their projects had some considerable structural issues. Walls had to be completely rebuilt, and they poured more new foundation and footings for posts than either of them expected. Thousands of dollars and several days later, they could continue where they left off. It was definitely a set-back, but clear that he had no other option. Like many of these obstacles, the solutions are pretty straightforward: the “bones” and structure of the house have to be attended to in order for any further work to be safe and successful.

Good foundations matter. That is the theme carried in both of our scripture readings for today. In Matthew’s gospel, they come as words from Jesus himself at the end of the sermon on the mount. These chapters have outlined what it means to be a disciple, beginning with a list of blessings, the Beatitudes. They speak to the nuts and bolts of living out our lives of faith in relation to others, particularly those who are challenging to us. And then Jesus wraps it up with this final reminder that takes us almost back to the beginning. In order to be strong and faithful, his followers must ground themselves in the words he has spoken, just as a person builds a house on a rock. Inaction on these instructions are like building on sand. Things are going to shift, and the wind and rain will quickly cause its demise. It’s a pretty straightforward message about taking this lengthy hillside sermon not just to heart, but into tangible action as well.

As people of faith, our foundations should be in the promises from God; those outlined by Christ himself and those proclaimed throughout the entirety of scripture. They are the bedrocks of our faith that allow us to build our lives in a way that is shaped by our relationship with the Divine. These foundations are what many of our most loved hymns proclaim, distilling our faith into the critical aspects worth repeating in song to commit them to our memories. Some of these central promises are featured in the hymn How Firm a Foundation. In 1787, a British Baptist pastor named John Rippon published a church hymnal with an extensive collection of hymns to serve as an appendix to Dr Watt’s Psalms and Hymns, including this classic which was originally titled “Exceedingly Great and Precious Promises[i].” The author is unknown, but attributed a “K,” which most scholars assume references his Minister of Music, Robert Keene, who helped put the collection together. The seven original stanzas were based on various biblical promises from Scripture, including Isaiah 41:10, “do not fear, for I am with you”; Isaiah 43:2, “when you pass through the waters, I will be with you”; 2 Corinthians 12:9, “my grace is sufficient for you”; and Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Sound familiar? The hymn speaks them almost verbatim. Together, it serves as one hymnologist puts it, like “a sermon in verse[ii].” It’s not surprising that this hymn has become a favorite of Christians, including several notable American leaders including Teddy Roosevelt. It is a song that helps us cling to the promises of our faith and remind ourselves of where we are rooted. Singing about these foundations of faith provide us comfort in facing the storms, and the strength on which to build our responses to them.

Paul, master of mixing metaphors, takes on the illustration of building in 1 Corinthians 3 in relation to what it means to be the church. These verses speak to the importance of the urgency of constructing a church with integrity. The first step, of course, is to pay attention to the foundation, which can only be Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that in the early church, references to building would not have been about physical edifices. Paul wasn’t presenting a capital campaign. The word used for church in Greek, ekklesia, refers not to any kind of structure, but rather a gathering of people.

Paul’s architectural imagery serves to draw the Corinthians’ attention to the nature of their community . . . He calls the community to be self-reflective and to evaluate what they and their leaders are building[iii].

A lot of times we think about the early church as some sort of perfect utopian community of believers who all shared everything without any disagreement. The totality of Paul’s letters, particularly 1 Corinthians, quickly corrects us of this misnomer, and reminds us that from the beginning the church has wrestled with what it means to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. W. Michael Chittum reminds us this is still a challenge for us today:

Every Christian church, from the most liberal to the most conservative, makes the claim that it is based on the foundation of Jesus Christ, and many condemn and exclude those who disagree with their own particular theological interpretations. Do the differences in theological approaches by these differing churches constitute changing the foundation, or is it only a difference in the “stuff” constructed on the foundation? (see 1 Cor. 3:12-15)[iv]

I am struck by this every time I engage with Christians who aren’t from our particular denominational tradition, and even sometimes with whose who are as faithful to being Presbyterian as I am. This week, I had the joy of spending time with a new group of siblings in Christ at a gathering of the Cherokee County Ministerial Association. On Wednesday, 32 of us gathered for lunch, representing a variety of congregations and faith-based non-profits around the county. As introductions were made, part of me quickly felt like a fish out of water, with so many coming from more evangelical and non-denominational traditions. I admit my own bias was that I would not have much in common with those Christians, some of whom have traditions that don’t often embrace women as pastors, for example. But, as tends to happen with God, I was humbled and reminded to be open as the discussion began and the leader talked about the importance of a shared faith together and unity in Christ. He shared news of conversations happening around racial reconciliation in Cherokee County, and a shared worship event at the Woodstock Amphitheater on the evening of July 29th with over 25 churches already participating. We heard from a free medical clinic in Canton and their ministry of care to those who are uninsured or underinsured. In all of this, our common cause was not just to “do good,” but based in the foundation of being followers of Jesus Christ. It was a reminder that even with all of our differences (and there are some theological and practical ones that matter to me!), our foundation is the same. Sometimes, in a group of other Christians who see things differently, that can be a hard thing to say with confidence. We get caught up in the nuance. Maybe we should try to be more caught up in Jesus instead.

But even that might not free us from controversy. In the 4th century, theologians like Origen and Arius got into intense fighting with Athanasius and others regarding whether God the Father and God the Son were one and the same substance. Interestingly, this conversation was in part prompted by the Emperor Constantine’s attempts to unify and establish a single, approved Christian faith during his reign. In seminary, our church history professor shared with us a clever song designed to identify the complicated theological arguments, set to the tune of “Supercalifragilisticexpialoadocius” from Mary Poppins, written by a former student named Dan Idzikowski, retitled “superchristological and homoousiosis.” Put in non-tongue-twisting terms, it was this work begun at the council of Nicea and continuing in additional conversations in Chalcedon and Constantinople that led to our understand of God being one substance but three persons existing in balance and inextricable relationship with one another. What we believe about Jesus Christ as the foundation certainly matters. And while difficult, I think those conversations matter, particularly for what it means to be the church, because they mean we are, as Paul hopes, paying attention to the foundation on which everything is built.

That is also part of the story behind another hymn “The Church’s One Foundation.” In the mid-1900s, the Church of England was embroiled in theological controversy of its own after a book was written by one of the influential Anglican bishops, John William Colenso, which attacked the historical accuracy of the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of what we know as the Old Testament. Pastor Samuel J. Stone was deeply bothered by this book.

Stone was known as a man of spotless character; he was chivalrous toward the weak and needy, yet he was a violent fighter for the conservative faith that was being so sternly attacked in his day. He refused to compromise one iota before Higher Criticism and the evolutionary philosophies that were becoming increasingly popular. A personal faith in the inspired Scriptures was enough for him . . . He wanted to combat the attacks of modern scholarship and liberalism which he felt would soon divide and destroy the church[v].

In response, then, he wrote a collection of 12 hymns, “Lyra of the Faithful,” all based on the Apostles’ Creed. “The Church’s One Foundation” was based on the Ninth Article of the Creed, which begins with the phrase “the holy catholic church” – catholic meaning universal. Stone was insistent that:

The unity of the Church must rest solely with a recognition of the Lordship of Christ as its head and not on the views and interpretations of men[vi].

Although I don’t agree with many of the finer points of Stone’s arguments, and am grateful for the work of scholars in theology and biblical interpretation that I believe has been guided by the Holy Spirit to move us forward, I agree wholeheartedly with his assertion that the foundation of the church must always remain in Jesus Christ. What we build on that foundation, the work of our communities of faith, will be tested and refined over time by God, just as Paul indicates in 1 Corinthians. Our theology matters because it impacts what is built upon it. Paying attention to the foundations, even things that might seem on the surface as no-brainers, like believing in Jesus Christ, bears implications for what structures become put on top of it. When we talk, then, about what it means to be the church, and how we “do ministry” together – whether it is a stewardship campaign or a slip and slide on the church lawn, a closet of clothing for people in need, or selections of hymns in worship, we have to think about the theology that undergirds these decisions. Part of our responsibility as the church is to make sure that whatever we are doing, we are doing on the foundation of our understanding of Jesus Christ as Lord.  The same is true for our lives beyond these walls; we must ground them in the foundations of Christ. If we lose sight of that, we have lost sight of the gospel. That’s why hymns, I think, are so important. They remind us to not lose what is most important, and they bring us back home again to the good news. They unite more than just our voices; they unite us in faith and in proclaiming that in the midst of all we might see differently, together we proclaim the same Lord, now and forever. Confident of that harmony which we share, let us stand and sing together:

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford

July 1, 2018

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[i] Robert J. Morgan, Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories, (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2011).

[ii] Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories: The Inspiring True Stories Behind 101 Favorite Hymns, (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1982).

[iii] Melanie Johnson-Debaufre, “1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23: Exegetical Perspective,” Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010).

[iv] W. Michael Chittum, “1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23: Theological Perspective,” Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010).

[v] Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories: The Inspiring True Stories Behind 101 Favorite Hymns, (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1982).

[vi] Osbeck.

Sunday’s Sermon – Grace, Gratitude, and Good Works – 1 Chronicles 17:16-27

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How would you define “grace”? It’s a theological word we throw around often, particularly in our Reformed Presbyterian tradition. It’s used repeatedly in our scriptures. You hear it in both my opening words and closing benediction each week, in keeping with the traditional greetings and closings used by the Apostle Paul. Professor and theologian Rolf A. Jacobson offers this definition:

The free gift in which God gives everything—eternal life, forgiveness, purpose, meaning—    to human beings, who respond by trying to earn it[i].

Grace is central to our understanding of salvation and who God is in relation to the world. It reminds us that we have a God who is merciful and slow to anger, who offers compassion and forgiveness instead of condemnation. Grace comes alongside love and is the means through which God accomplishes all things.

Throughout his letters to the early church Paul hones in on the importance of grace. Some of my favorite passages include those in Romans and the verses in Ephesians which we read a few moments ago. In Ephesians, Paul wishes to make it clear to the people that grace is a gift that brings us salvation. Our unity with God in Jesus Christ is not because of anything we have or have not done, our pedigree or geneology, or any particular turn of luck or accomplished skill. It is, as the reformers said, solo gratia, only grace that grants us this eternal status. Friends, this is good news. Because, as Paul also said in another letter, all of us have sinned and fall short of the grace of God. So, if you remember nothing else about grace, remember that it is a gift. It is not up to us to earn it; all we can do is respond to it.

These are the roots of the story John Newton, the author of the hymn Amazing Grace, who experienced grace in a dramatic way during a particularly stormy voyage in March of 1748. One night, a storm overtook the ship without any time to prepare, and Newton began to cry to the Lord.  The next day, in great peril, he cried to the Lord. He later wrote, “That tenth of March is a day much remembered by me; and I have never suffered it to pass unnoticed since the year 1748 – the Lord came from on high and delivered me out of deep waters[ii].” Newton was the captain of a slave-trading ship, and for the next several years he continued, trying to justify his work by seeking to improve conditions as much as possible, even holding public worship services for his hardened crew of thirty each Sunday.

You may have noticed in the stories of hymn backgrounds this summer that many of the authors experienced some sort of conversions, or had nefarious pasts. In this way, they are in good company with many of our biblical heroes, whose stories often reveal less desirable aspects of their lives. I think these stories remind us of God’s incredible ability to do amazing things with even imperfect people. And perhaps, it’s these imperfect people, so aware of their shortcomings, who are able to be more fully aware of God’s grace and its role in their lives. One biblical example of this is King David, who moves in the biblical story from shepherd boy to king with a lot of questionable choices along the way. But rather than focus on this past history, 1 Chronicles tells the life of David through an encouraging lens, leaving out the stories of his personal sin and failure and life before he became king, and instead focusing on the accomplishments he left behind for future generations, including his central focus on worship.

First Chronicles was written for Israelites living centuries after David . . . to help them get in touch with what Israel had once been and could become again[iii].

In short, Chronicles was written to help orient God’s people to respond to God’s grace and mercy, using David’s awareness of it as inspiration. Our text from today comes following David’s interactions with the prophet Nathan, who has guided him in understanding what God would have him do next. David had offered to build a temple for God, but Nathan delivers the message that God has something else in mind. David responds with this earnest and heartfelt prayer that model him as a humble ruler even in his success. He accepts the news from Nathan with meekness and thanksgiving. Rather than boast in God’s grace, David chooses to be grateful.

For both King David and John Newton, responding to God’s grace is about gratitude. It is an awareness of all that God has done, is doing, and will do, and an earnest desire to set their own interests aside in following God. Both men offer powerful prayers of thanksgiving, and because of God’s grace are able to find a new way in which to live in gratitude. Grace prompts us to say “thanks” to God. Each week in worship we confess our sins, and are reminded of this grace, and we respond with a song of thanksgiving to God – giving to God all the glory of this moment.

Grace also prepares us for discipleship. As our text from Ephesians reminds us, we are what God has made us, and God indeed has made us for a purpose – for good works. When we are aware of God’s grace, and lead lives marked by gratitude, we naturally will extend that grace and love to others with our actions. This is the intersection of good works and grace. Good works are not the way to grace, but the natural response to lives aware of its presence.

For John Newton, it changed his entire life path. Despite his efforts to improve his slave-trading ships, after several years he felt convicted of the inhuman aspects of this work and left the seas for dry land. At age 39, he was ordained by the Anglican Church and began his first pastorate in the little village of Olney, near Cambridge, England. During this time, he grew tired of the same old rote hymns provided in the Psalter, and sought to write new hymns that provided straightforward messages about scripture in ways that people could connect to, and so he began to write his own. That’s right, John Newton was responsible for many newfangled hymns. He collaborated with his friend and neighbor, William Cowper, and together they published a collection of 349 hymns in the Olney Hymns hymnal in 1779, with 282 of them by Newton[iv].

Among those were six stanzas of a hymn titled “Faith’s Review and Expectation,” based on Newton’s study of 1 Chronicles 17. It is the hymn later set to an early American folk melody which we know by its opening stanza, Amazing Grace.

John Newton’s contribution to faith communities in Olney and these hymns are certainly an impressive example of the impact that a recognition of God’s grace can have on one man. But the more compelling part of the story for me is what happened next in Newton’s ministry. Because leading lives in response to God’s grace is about much more than becoming a minister and writing good hymns. In the case of John Newton, grace led him to take a stand for something far more important. It is captured on his tombstone, which he himself wrote:

“John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy.”

After serving fifteen years in Olney, Newton became pastor of the influential St. Mary Woolnoth Church in London. During this period, he mentored several influential leaders and clergymen. Most notably, he established a strong relationship with William Wilberforce and other political leaders engaged in the crusade for the abolition of the slave trade. His experience as the captain of a slave-trading ship haunted him, but he also felt compelled by his experience of God’s grace to make changes for the good of the world. It is worth noting that the year of John Newton’s death, 1807, also marked the year the British Parliament finally abolished slavery through all its domain.

In 2006, the story of William Wilberforce’s crusade against the slave trade in the British Parliament was captured in a movie titled Amazing Grace. It is a compelling story about the struggles of leaders in the midst of tremendous changes, and it features several scenes in which Wilberforce engages with his mentor clergyman, John Newton. In one memorable scene, Newton notes the line from the hymn “was blind but now I see,” and notes the irony of how he, almost blind and late in life, had finally seen what was good and right all along, after years of being blind to the sins of which he was a part. Then Newton adds: “Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly. I’m a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.” The driving force for him continued to be his faith and understanding of grace, and his willingness to do something with it.

The film also depicts William Wilberforce struggling with whether he should enter the ministry (like Newton) or go into politics. He makes a display in a card game after another player wagered a slave, returning to sing the first verse of Newton’s hymn. Later his friend, William Pitt urges him to make a decision, and asks him “do you intend to use your beautiful voice to praise the Lord – or to change the world?”

While I understand the set-up in the film, I don’t think such an answer is either/or. In fact, a life marked by grace demands that we do both – praise the Lord (show our gratitude) AND seek to change the world, joining in the work of God’s kingdom that we were created for through Jesus Christ. Grace can and should prompt us to good works, to actions that make a difference in the world – not for our own gain, but for God’s.  In this way we become extensions of God’s gift of grace to others. This is the work of discipleship: becoming aware of God’s grace, giving thanks for it, and doing something because of it.

That is the work that our denomination’s General Assembly undertook this week, which you will hear about in more detail in just a few moments, and it is a challenge to all of us sitting here in the pews. Each week, we come together to celebrate God’s grace – through word, sacrament, prayers, and song. But it has to lead us somewhere, too. The book of James reminds us that “faith without works is dead.” The story of John Newton should, I think, inspire us to action. To root ourselves in an understanding of God’s love and mercy and reorient our lives in response. For him, that meant a total life shift and committing himself to a cause deeply grounded in a theology that we are all made equally in God’s image and should be treated in that way. This morning, I invite you to sing this hymn in praise to God, but also as a prayer asking for God’s guidance for the work that is yours to do, trusting that in word and song, the Holy Spirt can and will lead us into action. All because of a grace that is so amazing we cannot help but respond. Let us sing:

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
June 24, 2018

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[i] Crazy Talk: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Theological Terms, Rolf A. Jacobson, editor, (p. 99). Fortress Press. Kindle Edition.
[ii] Robert J. Morgan, Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories, (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2011).
[iii] NRSV Student Bible
[iv] Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories: The Inspiring True Stories Behind 101 Favorite Hymns, (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1982)

Sunday’s Sermon – On the Vine – John 15:1-8

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A few years ago I went to a fundraiser for a local charity with some of my church members. It was sponsored by one of those groups that does paint nights, where you start with a blank canvas, and then an artist guides you step by step through a series of strokes, one section at a time. By the end of the night, viola!! You have a beautiful painting that looks like you knew what you were doing . . . most of the time at least. Painting is not my skill set, so I was rightly apprehensive about this endeavor, but I was assured that it would be fun regardless. I’d seen amazing results from friends, posts of pictures of scenic skylines and still life. The picture for the evening was relatively simple, and I picked up a paintbrush and tried very hard to follow what the leader was both saying and showing. Here is my end result. Not too bad actually. Definitely something I would never have been able to do on my own, though, even if I had seen the sample image to copy. But, when guided through it step by step, I was able to produce something that looked halfway decent. The key, I learned, was not necessarily to get ahead of myself, but instead follow the artist leading me, offering the next step and gently suggesting edits for when I had missed the mark. The end result came about because I was willing to trust the process.

In many ways, this is similar to the illustration Jesus uses in today’s passage. He speaks about the growing process of a vineyard, the step-by-step work of the vinegrower that is necessary in order for the end result to be good. Just as the artist leading us didn’t just hand us some paint and tell us to go to town, the vinegrower doesn’t just toss out some seeds and hope for the best. It takes time, tending and pruning, attending to different growth needs, and trust in the process. While not a perfect metaphor, it is a beautiful and complex one with many applications. This week I spent a little time looking at some comprehensive videos produced by the Monticello Wine Company about a year on the vine. It was fascinating. One of the introductory notes from the narrator was “the key to great wine is great fruit[i].” That is where the vinegrower puts their attention if they want to be successful. It is a quite lengthy process, too. Did you know it can take up to three years before a grapevine will produce fruit that is even worth considering to be made into wine? It’s fascinating timing considering this story, as its assumed Jesus spent roughly three years in ministry. What is more, many vineyards wait another two or more years to reach optimum quality. So perhaps, with this text, Jesus is helping to prepare the disciples for continued maturation by setting them up for a process through which they might continue to grow, and hopefully bear good fruit.

This text comes in the midst of his final discourse, or teaching, to his disciples, and he utilizes a common image of the day – the vineyard – to help the disciples understand what living as Christ’s people would look like. It is important to note that this is not just any parable or allegory, but rather is what is known as:
a mashal, a Semitic form that includes and image and its application to real life[ii].
Such a format would have been common in the Jewish religious tradition, as evidenced by its recurring presence in the Talmud. As Osvaldo Vena summarizes:

The vine was a common image used in the Hebrew Bible to speak of Israel as God’s people and conveyed the ideas of divine love and divine judgment. We can see this in Isaiah 5:1-7, the song of the unfruitful vineyard, where instead of grapes (justice) God finds wild grapes (bloodshed). The same idea is present in Jeremiah 5:10 and Jeremiah 12:10-11, but not so in Isaiah 27:2-6, where a reversal of the earlier song occurs, and now Israel is depicted as a fruitful vine[iii].

With such a reference, Jesus would have tapped in to the richness of the tradition with such an image, interpreting it in a new light for his disciples. The vinegrower is still God, but the vine is no longer Israel; it is Jesus. Again, the gospel message expands a far and as wide as the vine can grow. The writer of the gospel of John masterfully crafts the image of something well known in order to bring deeper understanding. Jesus Christ changes everything, and it is connection to him that will bring life, new life, life abundant. This text is one more opportunity for the disciples to root themselves in Christ and prepare for the good news that is to come with the resurrection in just a few more chapters.

The same message is true for us today, as those who seek to follow Christ. We often comment that we want to “grow in faith” or “bear good fruit,” and texts like this one help us remember where to start. We need to be on the vine, connected to Jesus. To put ourselves in this position, the one that will help us grow, is not without risk or challenge. The imagery reminds us that on the vine we will be subject to pruning. Now, I don’t think this means we will be cut off from the vine itself, but the parts of us that aren’t bearing fruit may need to be trimmed away in order for us to truly thrive. That is part of the work of discipleship, as we let go of those things that are not bringing us life or drawing us closer to God, creating space in our lives that growth might happen. In another part of the video from Monticello, the grower notes that one of the things that often contributes to growth is stress. That’s right, stress. In response to stress, the plant will often focus its energies on its progeny, the grapes, to make them as desirable as possible to birds and bees, in order to survive.  Likewise, we might note that in our own lives of faith, it might be in times of stress and change, both positive and negative, where we experience the greatest amount of growth in our relationship to God. So perhaps, we might benefit by putting our lives of faith under a bit of examination and open ourselves up to processes of pruning in order to grow. Change certainly won’t be easy, but it may just be what we need to help us bear the best fruit.

This text invites us to trust in the process, even when it is difficult and takes us out of our comfort zone. To do so means we must be brave.  Consider this poem by Micky ScottBey Jones:

Together we will create brave space

Because there is not such thing as a “safe space” –

We exist in the real world

We all carry scars and we have all caused wounds.

In this space

We seek to turn down the volume of the outside world,

We amplify voices that fight to be heard elsewhere,

We call each other to more truth and love

We have the right to start somewhere and continue to grow.

We have the responsibility to examine what we think we know.

We will not be perfect

This space will not be perfect.

It will not always be what we wish it to be.

But

It will be our brave space together,

And,

We will work on it side by side[iv].

 

This should be our vision for the church; a brave space in which we might be “on the vine” together, being pruned and growing in faith all at the hand of God through the life-giving vine of the Holy Spirit. That is the image I hope we might see when we gather here. This weekend our incoming officers spent time together, learning and laughing and preparing for another year of leadership with our returning officers. We made new connections with each other, and I hope with God as well. In one of the videos we watched, we were reminded that at the heart of what it means to be Presbyterian is that we do this thing called faith together. The good news is, that work is never done alone. I have yet to see a vineyard with only one little plant. There are rows and rows of them, with buckets full of fruit that are smashed together to create a delicious end result, whether it’s the Welch’s in our communion cups or your favorite vintage in the cellar. Collectively, we are a vineyard, growing together in Christ. We are called into connectional relationship with one another, and at the root of it all, if we have any hope of thriving, is our individual and communal relationships with Christ, who is the head of the church. It is Christ who invites us into this intertwined relationship, just as he invited his followers long ago as recorded in John 15. So let’s join together, on the vine, and be bearers of good fruit for the glory of God, who planted seeds in us long ago, and isn’t done tending to us. Amen.

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
April 29, 2018

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[i] “Making Wine: In the Vineyard – Anatomy of a Grapevine,” Monticello Wine Company, posted February 9, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aCFjEc1rgY, accessed 4/25/18.
[ii] Osvaldo Vena, “Commentary on John 15:1-8,” Working Preacher Website, April 29, 2018, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3631, accessed 4/25/18.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Micky ScottBey Jones, “An Invitation to Brave Space,” The peoplessupper.org, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/595e51dbd1758e528030285b/t/5978dca7d7bdcee0e2be6a99/1503506626330/FAQ-brave-space.png, accessed 4/25/18.

Sunday’s Sermon – Caretakers of Creation – 1 John 3:16-24

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Being in love can make us do some pretty unusual and outright crazy things. Remember when Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah’s couch? Perhaps you have a “friend” with an impulsive tattoo. Affection for another changes our brain chemistry, and alters the way we interact in some ways. It doesn’t always have to be extreme, necessarily. It could be as simple as picking up a favorite candy bar or flowers, just because you saw them and thought of that special someone, or taking on that extra task around the house because you know they hate to do it, even though truthfully you do as well. That’s love. It’s not restricted to a significant other, of course. Parents are known for actions towards their children that clearly are only done out of love, whether it’s putting out a hand for their toddler’s half-chewed food, or sitting through eighteen intermediate piano students playing “The Entertainer” at a concert. We also extend such loving courtesies to friends. How many times have you ever done someone a favor and replied “you know I’m only doing this because I love you, right?” In a variety of ways, it is clear that one way we show love is through our actions.

That is the heart of today’s message from 1 John. In this letter, the writer essentially interprets the gospel of John for a new generation. Throughout this general letter, patterns of recurring themes emerge. He fleshes out a bit more about what Jesus meant by that commandment to “love one another,” and “serve each other” in ways that were directly relatable to those reading his words. He is a wise veteran Christian leader, who: continues to help the young believers and their struggling churches to deal with the challenges of their new faith[i].

Although his context is not immediately clear, his interpretation of the relevance of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is to the point.

I love how Eugene Peterson paraphrases the central idea of the text in verse 18:

My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality[ii].

The writer of 1 John knows that love is revealed in one’s actions, and love always starts with God. The origin of this, of course, is in remembering the love with which God sent Jesus Christ into the world, and the love of Christ’s action of laying down his life for us. There is no greater love than this. The actions of God reveal to us God’s love. Jesus Christ, in the flesh, is evidence of God’s love in the world.

The pairing for this text in the lectionary is from John’s gospel, which alongside other texts for the day, is what gives this fourth Sunday of Easter the nickname “Good Shepherd Sunday.” On this day, we are called to think about the role Christ played as Shepherd, and God plays as caretaker in our lives. Specifically, we are invited to note the way the shepherd sets aside selfish ambition and personal interests for the needs of the sheep – sacrifice. This framework offers a perfect backdrop for the instructions in 1 John, because it sets up the foundation of serving and caring for others as the basis for our lives, if we truly wish to be ones who consider ourselves followers of the Good Shepherd.

The love of God through Jesus Christ should inspire us. That’s the writer’s point. It’s a pretty simple and straightforward understanding of discipleship: because God loves us, we are called to love one another. On the whole, I think we are good with articulating this vision of what it means to be Christian, particularly inside these walls on a Sunday morning. We can even become quite good about talking about God’s love for us, and how we should love our neighbors. Of course, it’s not quite as easy to live out as it is to say. The grit of everyday puts countless opportunities in front of us to love people, not in some theoretical, abstract way, but in the right in front of you, staring you in the face kind of way. And more often than not, what stares you in the face is exactly what gets on your last nerve, or what you don’t have time for that day. This is where the rubber meets the road in our faith, and our text reminds us of our calling. Or, to put it another way, as author and pastor A. W. Tozer said:

we cannot pray in love and live in hate and still think we are worshipping God.

Instead we are called to love. And it starts with what is right in front of us. So while this may seem like a passage that doesn’t exactly break any revolutionary news to us about what it means to follow Christ, it probably is one we need to hear repeatedly in order for it to really sink in. Going further, he reminds us that the presence of such loving actions is how we know that we are truly following God and living in God’s kingdom here and now.

One example of this is through Santa’s Caravan, who will welcome the Georgia Boy Choir here this afternoon at 4 pm for an incredible benefit concert followed by dinner. It’s more than just a time to enjoy world-class music. It is supporting a ministry that lives out what 1 John is talking about. The roots of this program came from a wonderful volunteer working in our food pantry looking in the eyes of brothers and sisters in need, realizing that for some children, right in our adjacent neighborhoods, Christmas would not be bringing the same kind of joy that so many others had. Now, years later, we still look eye to eye with our brothers and sisters in need, and Santa’s Caravan is one way we live out the love in action of the gospel, providing gifts and food yes, but also providing connection and hope, acknowledgement and support. There is no doubt in my mind, having experienced only two of these incredible seasons so far, that God’s Spirit is present in this work.

There are many other examples, of course, of what it looks like to care for those around us. But today I want to offer one more that might take us on a slightly different course, yet still within the realm of I think where the passage leads. As you might have noted on your calendars, today is also Earth Day, a now worldwide tradition spanning back 48 years. According to EarthDay.org, the idea of this day came from then U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969. He tapped into the emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution and brought environmental protection onto the national political agenda, by encouraging Congress to pursue a “national teach-in” on the environment. What resulted was about 20 million Americans demonstrating on April 22, 1970, realizing that although their specific passions were different, from oil spills to polluting factories to loss of wilderness and extinction of wildlife, they shared common values – they wanted to be caretakers of creation. Today, it is estimated that over 1 billion people in 192 countries[iii].

If we are called, as God’s created and loved beings, to care for one another, not just in words, but also in action, doesn’t it make sense that some of that responsibility applies to how we treat all of what God has created, from our fellow humankind to animals to the earth itself? It follows, from 1 John and John 10, that being “caretakers of creation” is meant to be an all-encompassing idea. After all, by caring for the world in which we live, we are working to make a better world for our brothers and sisters now, and those who will come in the future. We are not called to be self-serving consumers, grabbing all we can get. Instead, we are called to take what we have, particularly our material resources, and share them with others – or at least protect them so more can use it.

Creation care is another way, then, that we live out God’s instructions to love. It can be as simple as seeing a piece of trash and picking it up, or following the classic “reduce, reuse, recycle.” It can look like considering own usage of plastic products, which have been identified as one of the most dangerous threats to both nature and wildlife. Presbyterians have been doing this for years. In fact, since 1995 we even have an organization within our denomination expressly for this purpose: Presbyterians for Earth Care. Their purpose is:

Connecting members through a grassroots network of people seeking to keep the sacred at the center of earth care, advocacy and action both inside and outside the walls of the church.
Equipping members with resources, ideas and information for a shared journey toward a healthier planet by growing and sharing theological understandings and perspectives on eco-justice issues.
Inspiring members through stories of individuals and groups who have responded to the sacred call to care for the earth – stories told person to person at events, and by newsletter, email, social media and devotions[iv].

Their work helps us pay attention to our call to be caretakers of creation, whether it’s making our physical buildings more eco-friendly or advocating for better responses to climate change. Here at Heritage, we are a part of similar work. Kevin’s Garden provides opportunities for our community to care for the land we have been given and provide food for others: it is a movement towards justice in that way. Our worship committee chose the Palms we did this year for Palm Sunday from a company called “Eco-Palms,” who in addition to providing a fair wage for their laborers, commits to harvesting practices that are more ecologically sustainable[v]. It is a small way we can live into the calling we have from 1 John 4 to use our means to act in love for God’s people, and God’s creation. Being caretakes of creation connects us to one another. Our PCUSA Co-Moderator, Rev. Tawnya Denise Anderson, reported on Facebook yesterday that during the Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington D.C., a pastor from Flint, Michigan, Rev. Monica Villarreal, shared in a workshop that she can’t even baptize with the water that comes out of her church’s tap. As brothers and sisters in faith, we cannot hear that news and simply respond with our “thoughts and prayers.” We have to put our love in active response. The opportunities will always be right in front of us.

Friends, we are called to pay attention, to see the needs of the world around us, in every sense of the word, and respond in love-filled action. In this, we become caretakers of creation, following the Good Shepherd who continues to lead us in acts of compassion and justice, who put everything on the line for us, that we might have a freedom to love as radically as possible. So may God’s love for you through Christ give you that freedom and courage to act, for the sake of the gospel. Amen.

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
April 22, 2018

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[i] William I. Self, “Homiletical Perspective:1 John 3:16-24,” Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 2, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008).
[ii] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message Remix (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2006).
[iii] https://www.earthday.org/about/the-history-of-earth-day/
[iv] http://presbyearthcare.org/
[v] For more about eco-palms, go to https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/compassion-peace-justice/hunger/enough/eco-palms-2/

Sunday’s Sermon – The Open-Ended Tomb – Mark 16:1-8

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You may be wondering, where is the rest of the story? If you were following along in the Bible, you might note that there are 12 more verses to go in Mark’s gospel; rich and wonderful stories about Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene, then two other disciples, and finally the 11 disciples as a group before returning to heaven. These are the stories we read in Matthew, Luke, and John, who add in additional proof-of-resurrection stories, like Jesus inviting Thomas to place his hands in the wounds, or even eating fish grilled over an open fire.  This is the ending of the Easter story we have come to expect, the risen Christ walking around, making appearances to those who loved him. It is from here that we can say we, too, have seen the risen Christ, and sing our Alleluias at the good news. But Mark’s gospel gives us a different ending to consider. The verses that are believed to be the original ending of the earliest gospel account, concluding with verse 8, reveal the perplexing discovery of the empty tomb and indication that Jesus “has been raised,” but the story ends in fear and wonder and silence. In Mark’s gospel, we don’t so much get a dramatic conclusion, but an open-ended tomb that leaves us in a cliffhanger.

Such an ending should put us on the edge of our seats. It brings an element of anticipation for what might happen next. It is what prompts us to let the next episode start playing if we’re watching a captivating series of our favorite show on Netflix. Of course we are going to continue watching – we want to find out what happens next. Some of the best series writing, whether it’s novels or television or a movie franchise, leave the ending open-ended. The Merriam Webster Dictionary gives us a good definition for what this means, defining “open-ended” as:

not rigorously fixed: such as adaptable to the developing needs of a situation, or permitting or designed to permit spontaneous and unguided responses[i].

Perhaps this is what Mark was trying to do – to evoke a response, for readers to join with the women at the tomb and experience the overwhelming emotions of what such a jarring revelation might mean for their lives. Some commentators argue that Mark leaves us in a moment of suspense on purpose, challenging us to consider how we might complete the story ourselves. That is, of course, our tendency when things are left without conclusion.

One of my favorite shows is The Big Bang Theory which airs on CBS. One of the main characters, Sheldon, has ongoing issues with things having the proper closure. In one episode, his girlfriend Amy tries to help him overcome it. Take a look:

[clips from “The Closure Alternative,” Big Bang Theory, Season 6, Episode 21, originally aired April 25, 2013.]

He just can’t help it. And neither can we. Want to drive a musician crazy? Put an unresolved chord at the end of a song. [Denise to play song]. Our text for today is abrupt and startling, not smooth and comforting. It may even be frustrating, driving us to avoid the awkwardness and challenge it presents by adding to it. That’s what later authorities copying Mark’s manuscript did, even, picking up after verse 8 to “fill in the gaps” and end everything neatly. In literary terms, it is called denouement, from the French root which means “to untie.” It’s the final conclusion of a story, when all the plot pieces find resolution. A classic example? Fairy tales that end “and they all lived happily ever after.” Or fables that drive home the point, “and the moral of the story is.” We even do it informally in conversation, “to make a long story short.” We like things to be neat and tidy, complete and resolved. This is true about our lives, and especially true about our faith.

In fact, I think that’s why so many of us struggle with belief and faith in general – it simply leaves too much unresolved; too many questions; too many openings and different ways of understanding, none of which ever seem to fully satisfy our need to know. Like children, our faith can prompt us to exist in an ongoing cycle of “yes, but why?” with each new revelation. In Mark’s gospel, this seems to be part of the design. His version of Easter morning doesn’t come so much with a “the end,” but rather a “to be continued.” On one hand, this is incredible news. It is the point of the gospel and gives meaning to the devastation we experience in the drama of Holy Week. The story lacks its meaning if the ending is simply, “and then Jesus died.” The power of Easter morning lies in our ability to proclaim that death is never the final answer. That darkness never wins, for joy indeed comes in the morning. God did not let the violence and hatred and sin of the world have the final say[ii].

But in the gospel of Mark, the resurrection isn’t the last word either. That means there is still more to come.  The open-ended nature of the tomb is that there is still more God is doing and will do in the world. Easter morning is about God’s future breaking into our reality. This is a future that breaks apart every understanding we have of how things are supposed to end. You know the saying “few things in life are certain: death and taxes.” Christ’s resurrection takes death off the table. This should be unnerving. It should be a little bit scary. It’s what professor Rolf Jacobson calls a, existential “holy crap” kind of moment, when we realize we might have to re-evaluate everything we know in order to wrap our minds around the meaning of life once again[iii].

It’s exhilarating to say “the story isn’t over.” But then that means, “oh, the story isn’t over.” Perhaps this is why the women were so scared at the tomb. If the story isn’t over with Jesus’ death, then all of those challenging instructions he gave to them about living in God’s kingdom here and now were still true. They are not “off the hook” from the demanding call of discipleship. In fact, the empty tomb thrusts them into an even more challenging way of being in the world: sharing news that seems impossible and too good to be true to a world consumed with death and easy conclusions. The resurrection gives them a new reality, not just hypothetical, but real and gritty.

Maybe that’s exactly what the gospel writer in Mark intends. For the resurrection to usher us into a new way of being. The mysterious young man at the tomb prompts this journey, telling the women to return to Galilee and find Christ there. In Galilee, they will be drawn again into this incredible story, and maybe this time have a sense of what it means. Jesus has gone ahead of them. God’s work is continuing, with or without them. The ending of Mark’s gospel is so jarring, so moving, that it compels us to dive back into the story itself and see what we might have missed the first time we heard it. Because suddenly, we hear the story of this man named Jesus walking around the hillsides and teaching and healing people in a new light – because we know that this truly is the son of God. The open tomb brings an open-ended invitation to be a part of what is happening next. The story of God raising Jesus from the dead is amazing. But it’s not the end. It’s only the beginning. It’s a cliffhanger. If God can overcome even death, there is endless possibility for what God can and will do next.

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
April 1, 2018

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[i] “open-ended,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/open-ended, accessed 3/28/18.
[ii] Diana Butler Bass frames an understanding of the crucifixion in this way, “God did not send the “gift” of a dead child for salvation. God gave the gift of a child to the world to embody the way of shalom and to upend the empire of death. The Empire killed that child. But God wouldn’t let that execution be the last word. That’s the Easter story” Twitter Post 3/27/18, 7:58 pm, https://twitter.com/dianabutlerbass/status/978783309357559808, accessed 3/29/18.
[iii] Sermon Brainwave #412 Working Preacher, originally posted April 5, 2015, http://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx?podcast_id=1003, accessed 3/28/2018.

Sunday’s Sermon – We Wish to See Jesus – John 12:12-26

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When was the last time you went to a parade? When I was in middle school, my family moved to L.A., also known as “Lower Alabama” – Spanish Fort, to be exact. One of the highlights of community life each year was a few days of vacation from school marked for Mardi Gras. Little did we know that Mobile, just across the bay from where we lived, claims to be the birthplace of such celebration[i].  Regardless of location, though, parades are a sight to be seen. The floats are elaborate, with people working for months on end to create innovative and over the top displays that will move through the streets for only a few hours. And of course, there are the amazing florists and artists who work on the Parade of Roses floats in California, with all live embellishments. It is amazing. For Mardi Gras, of course, there is more than just watching. Parades are interactive. People follow along with the floats, screaming “throw me somethin’ mister!” in the hopes of being seen themselves, so that they will be showered with beads and moon pies and roses and all sorts of other toys. It didn’t take me long to learn to stick with friends who knew people in the floats, who would focus things your way. And, with two preschool-aged brothers, we learned making them visible meant even more toys launched in our direction. Parades fill the air with a spirit of celebration.

Similarly, the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is bursting with the same kind of energy, as crowds clamor around Jesus. He isn’t riding on a massive float, but rather a humble young donkey. Nevertheless, he is greeted by the masses in Jerusalem as a king. Perhaps they have been following him across the hillsides in Galilee, listening to him preach, teach, and perform miracles. Or maybe they have just heard about it and are coming to check it out. In John’s gospel, there is much reason for celebration at this point in the narrative. Jesus, only one chapter prior, has raised Lazarus from the dead. News like this – resurrection – spreads quickly. The crowd testifies to this good news, and with a display of power like this it is easy to see why many came to believe this was the long-awaited for Messiah, and they wanted to get a glimpse of the beginning of what surely would be a new age.

In John’s gospel account, we assume that the crowd was the common people of Israel. No description is given about any particular religious group or class of people. So we might assume, as Paul Barton does, that:

because we see in the Gospels that people from all walks of life approached and followed Jesus, . . . the crowd in Jerusalem included people from all economic, religious, and social groups within Israel[ii].

In other words, they were ordinary people, perhaps just like us, but also inclusive of the entire span of all humanity, sharing the news that the Savior has come. Such a crowd underscores the entire gospel message:

that God uses the humble, the oppressed, the vulnerable as the instruments of witness and revelation[iii].

The waving of palm branches is significant as well, because it tells us about the nature of this grand display. Palms have a political meaning, dating back almost 200 years before this event (circa 167-160 BCE), when the Jewish people revolted against a Seleucid Empire by refusing to worship Greek Gods, leading to a series of battles known as the Maccabean Revolt, recorded in the book of Maccabees, which is not in our biblical canon as Protestants, but is found in among the books in the Apocrypha, that is included in some other faith traditions.

In two passages describing the victories of the Maccabees over their Gentile overlords, palm leaves are used as markers of victory and celebration (1 Macc. 13:51; 2 Macc. 10:7)[iv].

Such symbolism would not have been incidental for the people in Jerusalem, nor for John in his writing of the gospel, which is rich with metaphor and meaning. In this moment, it is clear how the crowd sees Jesus. Their shouts of “Hosanna!” – Save Us – are earnest pleas for redemption, for this is their king.

On Palm Sunday, we join this boisterous crowd with all of its frenetic energy. We are as the Pharisees describe, part of “the world that has gone after him,” proclaiming Jesus as our Lord. The palms waving and crowds cheering bring a joyful tone to even a dreary day, a wonderful hint at the celebration that will unfold one week from now.  John slips in a comment about the disciples in verse 16, that they didn’t really understand what was happening until after the full events had transpired. How fortunate for us to view this parade with all the benefit of knowing the fullness of where this story leads – to the cross and the empty tomb. Nevertheless, we, too, might misunderstand the implications if we are only focused on the revelry and forget to look up and see Jesus for the fullness of his message to the world. Judith McDaniel calls us to attention, naming the ways our vision of Jesus on Palm Sunday might fall short. She writes:

When we proclaimed him to be all that we had longed for, we knew not what we said . . . We still exalt the forms of kingship, not the content of his reign. We focus on the outline of the concept without perceiving its substance. We look for a crown, while we have been given a cross. We still do not understand that he is not a kingdom of fame and achievement. His is a realm of service and sacrifice. His is not a political victory. It is a promise of victorious, abundant life now. His action is less a claim concerning himself than it is a sign of the presence of God’s kingdom[v].

To truly be “Palm Sunday” people, we must dig deeper in this story, and go beyond the parade. One way to do this is to expand our reading for the day to include what happens next. After all, none of our Biblical texts exist in some sort of storybook vacuum. They happen in context, as a sequence, and in the case of the gospels, a carefully crafted one to build upon greater themes to help us ultimately understand who this Jesus character really is, that (as John’s gospel indicates) we might come to believe (see John 20:31). Among the crowd, or at least those who followed, John introduces some outsiders, Greek, who speak to Philip and Andrew, the two disciples with Greek-sounding names from Galilee[vi]. Their polite request speaks to the heart of where I think our focus should be on Palm Sunday, or any Sunday for that matter. “We wish to see Jesus.”

It is a polite request, marked by social convention and respect. Of course, they mean more than literal “seeing.” It’s not that they were particularly short and didn’t get a good view. They wish to have an audience with Jesus; to meet and speak with him. Their request parallels the invitational phrase Christ himself has used throughout this gospel to the disciples and others who followed: “Come and See.” These words tip us off that, in contrast to some religious leaders like the Pharisees, and even the gathered crowd of people in Jerusalem, there are in fact people who are able to see Jesus for the fullness of who he truly is. What is more, these are outsiders – Greeks. They remind us of the broadness of the gospel message being truly “for all the world,” and at the same time humble those of us “on the inside” with the awareness that the best insights and understanding might come from sources other than ourselves.

Jesus’ response is dark and challenging, further indicating that the kingship longed for and cheered on by the massive crowd is going to look quite different in reality. Alexander Wimberly notes that Jesus’ response about the grain of wheat reminds us that:

The heart of Christianity is a bunch of unsettling truths: some things we are familiar with need to die, in order for new life to arise; the work of the Spirit will not be contained in set patterns; and anyone and everyone who wants to get involved should do so[vii].

Getting involved in Christianity is less about coming forward as part of a crowd caught up in merriment, and more about coming forward with the words offered by the Greeks, saying “we wish to see Jesus,” acknowledging the depth of such a request that may take us to places unexpected, and may ask us to let go of things and ideas we once clung to as sacred. It is the culmination of our Lenten practice – letting go of our own expectations, and preparing to embrace the realities before us.

Saying “we wish to see Jesus” opens our eyes to the world around us. It prompts us to ask hard questions, and investigate things more closely. It calls to pay attention to the ways Christ may be revealed even in unexpected places in our lives. Most of all, it sets an intention for living as followers of the one on the donkey, even if we don’t have it all figured out just yet, to seek a deeper relationship with the divine .

Saying “we wish to see Jesus” puts us on the road, not to jump from our Palm Sunday parade to Easter celebration next Sunday, but to travel the difficulty of this Holy Week. To remember the path Christ himself took to Jerusalem; to witness his fury in the temple; to hear his frustration with organized religion the way it was; to encounter the extreme reversal of our Lord kneeling at the dirty, dusty feet of his disciples and washing them as a servant; to wrestle with his commandment to love; to feel the weight of the cross on the way to Golgotha; to weep with the women as darkness descends. Holy Week gives us one of the most remarkable overviews of a multifaceted Savior, a multifaceted God. It helps us see the magnitude of the greater story, which leads us to a greater appreciation for the empty tomb, and plants in us a longing to repeat that refrain “we wish to see Jesus” as we look for the living Christ among us.

So may this statement guide our journey to the empty tomb. May we approach this week with eyes open, in celebration, yes, and in contemplation of the greatest story of our faith. Most importantly, may we, with every fiber of who we are, wish to see Jesus. Amen.

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
March 25, 2018

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[i] http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2018/01/as_alabama_trolls_new_orleans.html
[ii] Paul Barton, “Theological Perspective: John 12:12-19,” Feasting on the Gospels: John, Volume 2, Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015).
[iii] Paul Barton, “Theological Perspective: John 12:12-19,” Feasting on the Gospels: John, Volume 2, Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015).
[iv] G. J. Riley, “Exegetical Perspective: John 12:12-19,” Feasting on the Gospels: John, Volume 2, Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015).
[v] Judith M. McDaniel, “Homiletical Perspective: John 12:12-19,” Feasting on the Gospels: John, Volume 2, Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015).
[vi] “Of the twelve disciples, only Philip and Andrew have purely Greek names . . . Both are from Galilee (1:44), which is, according to Matthew 4:15 (quoting Isa. 9:1), “Galilee of the Gentiles,” a district of Palestine that has long been majority non-Jewish. It may be that the Greeks mentioned here are also from Galilee and approach Andrew and Philip as fellow Galileans with familiar-sounding Greek names.” G. J. Riley, “Exegetical Perspective: John 12: 20-26,” Feasting on the Gospels: John, Volume 2, Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015).
[vii] Alexander Wimberly, “Pastoral Perspective: John 12: 20-26,” Feasting on the Gospels: John, Volume 2, Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015).

Sunday’s Sermon – Check or Carry-On? – Mark 8:31-38

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Do you ever people watch at the airport? One of my favorite games to play is guessing where people are going, or where they’ve been. And you can often do it with only a few clues at the security check point, as bag contents are often spread out before you. It’s incredible what people take in their carry-on baggage. A few weeks ago in Galveston, Texas, I was next to a family laden down with Mardi Gras beads. One young woman had a necklace with large ornament softball size balls – apparently that wasn’t fitting in her checked luggage. A few years ago I watched a man talk at length with a TSA official about whether or not he was able to carry-on a box of Velveeta cheese. I’m still wondering about that one. What we pack says a lot about us, and it helps shape the journey we’ll have along the way. What are those things that we can’t live without, even for a few hours on a plane? Today’s gospel lesson from Mark brings a direct and startling instruction about what the disciples should make sure they have with them in their carry-ons: the cross.

In the first century, the mention of the cross would have some immediate connotations. This was a device of torture – usually reserved for slaves and political criminal – that represented humiliation and extreme agony. Crucifixion was extreme, and appropriately terrifying. It would have been an exclamation point or bolded underline of his statement just a few sentences before about the suffering the “son of man” would experience. Such an image would have rattled the disciples to the very core. Their jaws must have been on the floor.

In contrast, we don’t tend to have such a strong reaction to seeing the cross today. It sits at the top of a steeple, or looms large in the front of our church sanctuaries. We wear it as jewelry and put it on bumper stickers and decals on our cars. When we look at it, we are slower to connect it as a startling image of torture and suffering. Many theologians have tried to modernize this image for us today, saying that the equivalent in our society today would be something like putting a fully functional electric chair at the entrance to our houses of worship. That is a thought that could easily put pits in our stomachs and make words get caught in the lumps in our throats. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be more comforting to replace our crosses with another symbol? Perhaps the empty tomb, or a smiling, thumbs-up “Buddy Christ” as in the movie Dogma to put a fresh face on our faith. It’s a tempting idea. We don’t like to think about the cross too much. Theologian William Placher offers that:

we do not think about its meaning because we want to call ourselves Christians while avoiding the thought that the implications of our faith might threaten our comfort[i].
But Mark’s gospel doesn’t let us off the hook that easily. Jesus calls his disciples, and us, to take up the cross, and consider all it implies.

The cross represents a pivotal moment of our faith – Jesus’ death.

the cross represents the culmination of the incarnation: divinity fully united with humanity. Christ did not take on a “higher” human nature while avoiding the tough side of it . . . The cross shows that in Christ God is with us, no matter what. Even when we doubt or disbelieve or think ourselves completely cut off from God, Christ has been there before us. Christ is, as the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said of God, “the great companion- the fellow sufferer who understands”[ii].

On the cross, God’s love to us is realized. As Protestant Christians, our cross is empty, primarily because we anticipate the rest of the story – we know that Jesus wasn’t left on the cross. In this anticipation of the resurrection, though, we must be careful to make sure that our empty crosses are not empty of meaning, too.

In his teaching in Mark, Jesus helps the disciples, and us, connect the meaning of the cross to the foundations of discipleship. Verse 34 spells it out: Jesus says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” The instructions are bookended with the word “follow.” This reminds us that we’re not trailblazing something totally new. Rather, we are traveling a path with someone who has been there and will be there with us along the way – Jesus. Along the way we are to do two things.

First, deny ourselves. In Lent, you might hear a lot about this step, and as we near the halfway point, such instruction might be the reminder you need if you have given something up for the season. Denying ourselves, though, doesn’t just come from giving up chocolate or soda. It can also be about setting our own selfishness aside, and take seriously that part of the Lord’s Prayer that says “THY will be done,” and invest our time and energies on making GOD a part of our decisions. In short, it’s about focus –not on ourselves, but on God. In a world that often pushes us to be self-serving, this alone would be challenge enough. But Jesus isn’t done yet.

The second step is to take up our crosses. Remember, the cross is the symbol of our salvation. Note, Jesus doesn’t say “ok, now that you have faith, I’d like you to very carefully wrap up this cross in bubble wrap, tucking your socks and soft clothing around the joints to protect it, and put this central part of your faith in your checked luggage.” Jesus doesn’t tell us to check the cross and pick it up at the end of the journey. He tells us to do the opposite – take it up, in essence to put it on our carry-on luggage. Keep it with us as something that is vital and important to us – so important we wouldn’t want to let it out of our sight or possession. As the carry-on baggage sign at Southwest (the one on the cover of the bulletin) remind us, “if it fits, it’s a carry-on.” Perhaps our task, then, is to consider how well or not the cross “fits” into our lives. Or better, how our lives fit into our understanding of the cross.

For many, perhaps even some of us this morning, the idea of “take up your cross” is closely associated with a particular hardship in their life they must endure, because, after all, Jesus suffered, and instructed his disciples to take up their crosses. It’s not hard to see how we end up with this conclusion from this passage, but it breaks my heart to think of the implications of this theology taken to its end. To bring to mind those who are being oppressed, and are told they must simply endure it. To imagine the woman who is in an abusive relationship, but continues to return to the abuser believing that this is her cross to bear. Or a man who does not reach out to a sponsor or go to a meeting, thinking he has to battle addiction as his own cross. Let me be very clear here. Jesus’ instruction to “take up your cross” is NOT God’s instruction to us that we must passively endure discrimination or actively experience real harm from others in order to be in solidarity with Christ. That is neither the God I know, nor a God I could worship faithfully. That is not the God we find on the cross. Jesus did not die on the cross so that we could join him and suffer. Christ died on the cross so that we might have LIFE, and life abundant.  

Taking up the cross is not about being tied up in its suffering. Through the cross, God promises that suffering is not the end result. From death on the cross springs a new life, an eternal life, made possible through Jesus’ resurrection.  Reconciliation and wholeness is the end for which I believe God yearns and desires. And so, to take up our cross means to live our lives in a way that seeks wholeness and reconciliation for all of God’s children; to be a people who reflect the God we worship.

Carrying the cross marks us as God’s own, as Christians, and demonstrates God’s love for the world. We take up the cross when we speak words of compassion rather than words of hate at those who have frustrated us, and when we refrain from snarky comments behind their backs. We take up the cross when we work to make sure children do not go hungry. We take up the cross when we pray for our loved ones, our community, and our world. We take up the cross when we come to this table for communion, experiencing the real and powerful presence of Jesus in our midst as we share in bread and cup.

Sometimes carrying the label of Christian is easy and light; other times carrying the label of Christian can feel like dragging a solid wooden cross through the mud. And yet, we are called to take it up, each and every day. Tom Long reminds us that:

sometimes, frankly, the commands of Jesus and the demands of life – a job, a social setting, or a relationship – are in tension, if not outright conflict, and the workaday life of Christians is filled with a thousand moral dilemmas.[iii]

We need the cross with us on the journey to keep us grounded in our faith, rooted in the heart of what really matters.  As followers of Christ, we have been entrusted with the cross. But it is up to us to decide whether we will put it in our checked bags, or be brave enough to carry it on with us wherever we go.  Amen.

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
March 4, 2018

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[i] William C. Placher, Jesus the Savior: The Meaning of Jesus Christ for Christian Faith (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001). 111.
[ii] Placher, 128-129.
[iii] Thomas G. Long, Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2004), 89.

Food Pantry

Food distribution is scheduled the 1st Saturday of the month at 10:00 am and the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 12:30 pm.

The next Drive-Up Food Pantry is scheduled for Saturday, July 5 at 10:00 am     am.  Accurate pre-registration is strongly encouraged to ensure volunteers pack accordingly.
Please sign- up here!

For other pantry locations, go here
or text “FINDFOOD” to 888-976-2232

Church News

Volunteers are welcome to help pack food boxes on Monday, June 30th at 10 am and Monday, July 14th at 10 am in the Fellowship Hall. 

Food Pantry distribution volunteer opportunity Saturday, July 5 registration here!

Worship Live Streaming and archives can be found by clicking the appropriate link under the worship tab.

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Upcoming Events

Worship

Sunday Schedule

9:00 AM
Responding in Faith Sunday School Class
     via Zoom with Barbara Jessee

9:15 AM
Bible University Sunday School Class
    with Dr. Tom Scott
Hybrid format (in-person & via Zoom)

Connections Sunday School Class
with Mark Bixler
Hybrid format (in-person & via Zoom)

Youth Bible Study (returns in August)
6- 12th grade

Kids Club – (returns in August)
Biblically-based Faith Formation Activities for Preschool – 5th Grade
Praise Kids Music on the 3rd Sunday of the month.

10:30 AM
In-Person Worship and Livestreamed via   YouTube.

Youth Group – the first and third Sunday of the month from 5-7 pm during the school year. (returns in August)