We gathered, as scheduled, here at the church at our usual place in the kitchen and then the library a few Sundays ago. We come together this way on the third Sunday of the month for fellowship and the session to meet.
We gathered, as planned, in the kitchen a few Saturdays ago. We held our usual gathering of the faithful men of the church for a breakfast and spirited conversation on a variety of topics. I’ve met former members and friends of the church at those third Saturday breakfasts and while we haven’t solved any of the world’s problems, it’s never been for lack of trying.
We gather in our church, we gather because we can and because we love being together doing the Lord’s work.
To his small country church in the mountains of north Georgia, Fred Craddock once preached a sermon called “It doesn’t get any better than this.” That’s true about us too. When we gather together, it’s never better.
That Georgia congregation’s new sanctuary was, like the road in the Wilshire Wood neighborhood, under construction and far behind schedule. Their planned opening and dedication had to be postponed and everyone was disappointed and Fred wanted to cheer them up a bit.
In his sermon he proposed they plan a trip to the Holy Land. He knew many of them had talked about it in the past and his thinking was to create a diversion and a little excitement and see such a trip as more grand than even a new sanctuary.
Along the way they could stop in Switzerland for that is the mother land for Presbyterians. They could stop in Greece to visit some of the places were Paul preached. Then on they would go into Israel itself, visiting all the places the Gospel speaks of where Jesus lived and taught and died.
As he talked things out he realized not everyone could get off from work or away from other commitments, that some would be worried about who would take care of the dog, who would take care of the yard, who would take care of the business, pick up the mail, and on and on. So, he offered a plan B.
Plan B was to go to a different sort of Holy Land. His plan was for everyone to get on a bus together and visit all the churches where everyone in the congregation had been brought up.
Many of you have spoken to me in the past about the churches where you grew up. Some were small churches and some were large ones. Some churches were just a few blocks from here, some in different parts of the state, some even in less exotic places than Texas.
But, as he thought about it, Fred was worried even this plan may be a bit much. There may be too many churches to try and visit.
So Pastor Craddock suggested Plan C. Plan C wouldn’t require elaborate foreign travel planning. It wouldn’t be necessary to charter a bus and get off and on at church after church after church which would have been a true labor for some and a bore for others.
No, plan C would not require unusual or uncomfortable travel at all. Plan C was for all to gather at the church, not for a regular worship service, but just for an evening of conversation and fellowship. He told them it would be a trip to their Holy Land, just to come and share and enjoy one another’s company.
Fred reminded them they were truly a remarkable group of faithful folk. He reminded them, and he reminds us, we all come from different backgrounds, but it is a blessing to see how, despite our differences, we worship and fellowship together. Often we forget how blessed we are and Fred’s story should help us remind ourselves to celebrate what we do well in this church.
Two obvious things get us started on our long list of things we do well. We do music well and we eat well. Both are true! Our choir is tops, whether they sing in the choir loft here in the chancel or out there in the pews their leadership in singing is remarkably spirit filled and downright fun to be a part of. Those of us with voices that challenge the very idea of singing stand next to our best choir voices and we become one blessed and joyful voice of praise and worship to our Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Our dinners together are legendary. Be it an informal fellowship with snacks and sandwiches, or our formal potlucks with casseroles, meats, side dishes and desserts, we excel. I have been asked by guests when we eat next. They don’t want to miss our full and sumptuous table. Folk often comment they want to come back because they have never tasted food so good or felt so warmly welcomed by any other congregation.
There is passion in what we do. With our Sunday school class, our many loyal friends who share our campus, our Presbyterian Women, our various mission interests, we express our love for God and our desire to welcome and serve all people which celebrates our feeling as a family, as a church family.
Fred Craddock need not plan a special trip with his church and we need not schedule one with ours. The point to be made in celebrating the life of the church is to create special times just to be together and experience life together as Christians. Like this morning. Genesis Presbyterian Church has come together, as scheduled, as planned, this morning to be with one another and to be with God.
To this end we gather around this scripture reading, this gospel from John. I invite you to take your Bible and later today, or this evening, find someplace where you can be alone, sit quietly, without distraction, preferably outside, and read today’s text, John 14:15-21.
In this passage, Jesus was talking about leaving his disciples, and this text is a part of his farewell speech. Earlier Jesus told them, “Trust in God, trust in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. I go to prepare a place for you.” His disciples knew he was leaving them and they were desperate. What would they do with Jesus gone? Who could they turn to for peace and comfort and the honest truth about life and, yes, even death?
Jesus knew these would be their questions and he knows they are ours too. Where will we go to find our savior? Who will be our comfort in times of trial and sadness? Where will we find true joy and blessings in this life of certain uncertainty?
Jesus knows us well. So he gives us words of comfort: wherever we are, no matter how far from home, no matter how dark and foreboding, we will always be in the Holy Land. Jesus assures us he will ask his Father, and his Father will send us an advocate, another helper, an intercessor. Jesus may be gone, but God will send another comforter, the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth, who will never leave us. “The Holy Spirit will be to you as I have been to my disciples,” is Jesus’ promise. There will be no loss of Jesus’ power or presence in our lives, for wherever we are, the Holy Spirit will be with us. Always.
We struggle sometimes with this possibility, that God is always with us, involved in our lives. We particularly notice it when we pray to God with a very specific prayer, a prayer for help with a personal issue, or we pray for someone we love who we sense needs God’s intervention in their lives, or when we pray for a moments peace, free from worry or pain or loss or confusion or loneliness.
We pray God will tell us what we are to do only to know silence and feel time, day after day, mute with no answer. Perhaps we are the reason for the days of silence. Perhaps we are not ready yet for the answer to our prayers. Perhaps we have forgotten we are to pray and to then let God be God with God’s answers for us. Answers which we may not expect or which we may reject. Answers which may require that we change the ways we consider our faithfulness to God, relying on God alone for our salvation.
Instead of waiting for answers we might take the ultimate leap of faith and say, “Take me Lord, use me Lord to bring about the peace and joy and grace you have in mind for this place, this church, this Holy Kingdom on earth.” Take me Lord, for I trust you with my life.
God’s desires that we be formed and transformed over and over again to become who God has created us to be. We know this is the case. The scripture is clear about God’s intention. It is ours that is often in question. We may honestly desire to be united within Jesus Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, one with the other and in holy communion. It’s just we may not remember which meeting it is we go to for such a transformation. Third Sunday. Third Saturday. A Wednesday night perhaps?
Truly, we all have some work to do. But finding God’s desire for us and our desire for God isn’t about meetings or successful church life. No, being changed to become God’s children is about faithfully living the truth. That truth is Jesus Christ. Being changed to be children of God is about service to someone else, someone or some group or some stranger we would rather not serve. Being faithful to the truth of Jesus Christ is about making their life better, fresher, and more abundant through our love.
The first step we take is to show up, to gather. Isn’t that often the hardest part? To show up, reach out, walk over to the stranger, the unforgiven, the one who brought so much pain, and then offer ourselves, offer our presence. To then listen and let them tell us what they need us to do, who they need us to be, how they need us to love them. These things are so easy and yet, so difficult.
If we love Jesus, we will keep his commandments…serve others and one another, here in this church, during scheduled times and not, serving faithfully, speaking and living truthfully, praying every day, simplifying our lives, and leaving everything else to God, prayers will be answered.
We don’t have to catch a plane, we don’t have to rent a bus, we don’t even have to get into our cars and come to church. What we have to do is to listen to Jesus’ promise. He has sent another helper to us. He has promised us, my Father and I will come and take up a room in your lives.
What has been made abundantly clear to us this morning is that we, we here in this humble temple, we are the Holy Land. We are the kingdom of God. God lives in each of us. God is in
our love, our love for God and our love for one another and this church.
It is for this love we gather as we do as Christians and as a church family.
For then truly, all else can be left up to God.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
Additional sources:
“Lectionary Homiletics,” Volume XIX, Number 3, pgs.25-31.
052911.gpc
No comments:
Post a Comment