Sermons: May 2022

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Captives Set Free

May 29, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

This story of Paul and Silas in Philippi, as told by Luke, brings us a curious tale of liberation. In the healing of the fortune-telling slave-girl and the salvation of the jailer, we see captives set free, transformed into new beings by the work of God.

For many days the fortune-teller follows Paul, announcing who he and his companions are, to Paul’s growing frustration. Her cries may have initially been helpful, drawing a crowd to see what the fuss was all about. Perhaps she saw them as fellow slaves, except these were slaves to God, proclaiming salvation. Her status as property, exploited for her talent, keeps her captive.

Though his motivation may have been annoyance, in casting out the spirit of divination in the name of Jesus Christ, Paul sets her free from both the possession by that spirit and the possession by her owners. Though we don’t follow her story after she is healed, she can no longer be exploited in this way by those who only thought to make money from her. She is free from her torment, and perhaps set free from her captors as well, by the transforming work of God in Christ.

Having lost their source of easy money, her owners are enraged. Paul and Silas have broken their business model, so they drag them before the authorities. Charged with disturbing the peace and advocating unlawful customs, Paul and Silas are made out to be political subversives, a threat to the status-quo. This charge, similar to that made against another who upended tables in the temple, labels them as a threat to the order of the state. They are beaten and imprisoned, made an example to others who might become troublemakers.

Held as captives, their bodies bruised and shackled, Paul and Silas remain free in spirit, courageously praising God, singing and praying as their fellow prisoners listen. In the middle of the night the earth quakes, the doors are opened, and the chains are broken. The captives are set free. Yet one captive remains – the jailer who is so fearful of the authorities he prepares to kill himself. Those held captive in the prison are actually free in Christ, and it is the captor who holds the keys who is shackled to his profession. Captive to the work of oppression and punishment of dissent, the jailer finds God’s grace as Paul assures him “we are all here.”

In this moment the jailer finds the doors to his own inner prison have been opened and he asks the profound question, “What must I do to be saved?”[2] Perhaps he meant how could he be saved from the wrath of the authorities, but there is much more theological depth to his question. What must I do to be saved from what keeps me prisoner? How can I be saved from what is destroying me? You and I may be held captive in a different way, but we understand his need for liberation.

The answer is deceptively simple. “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”[3] It is not simply a passive answer, that Jesus saves you and you don’t need to do anything. The answer hints at the powers that hold us captive.

The word you would see repeated through this story in the original Greek is kyrios or kirioi. The word describes the owners of the slave-girl. The word describes the authorities of the city, and even the emperor Caesar. It is the word the jailer uses to address Paul and Silas, and it is a word that is used again and again to describe Jesus. The word means “master” or “lord.”

The slave-girl is set free from her masters. The jailer is set free from his lords, the authorities of the city. In Jesus, they have a Lord who rises above all the others, a Master who will not exploit them or use them to oppress others. Paul and Silas are “slaves of the Most High God.” The thing is, their Lord is the way of salvation, the way of freedom, the one who breaks the chains and releases the captives.

In the final scene we see the reversal of the beating and imprisonment of Paul and Silas. The jailer is transformed into the host who offers hospitality, washes their wounds, and receives the freedom of new life in Christ that is offered in baptism. Through prayer and worship, these faithful people bring transformation, release to the captives, and the freedom of belonging only to God. Whatever holds you captive, you have only one true Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe and be set free. Amen.

[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] Acts 16:30.

[3] Acts 16:31.

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Make a Home in Us

May 22, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Acts 16:9-15; John 14:23-29 [1]

When a word in a book is really important, there are ways to make readers pay attention. You can write it in all capital letters. You can underline it. Some people use highlighters to make important words stand out. Or you can repeat the word; use the same word twice to show how important it is.

In Deuteronomy 16:20, the same word is used two times in the same sentence to show how important it is. “Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue.”[2]

Justice is one of the most important things to God, which is why the word is used two times in this sentence. The word “justice” is used 129 times in the Bible. Why does justice matter so much to God? Why should it matter to us? Justice means making things fair – especially for people who are having the hardest time – because they are very young or very poor or others don’t respect or care about them. But God loves even the very young, or very poor, and loves even those whom others disrespect or treat with indifference or hatred. Justice is so important to God that, in this single verse, God’s people are told twice to work hard for justice.

But if we are to pursue justice for God’s people all around the world, we have to start someplace. We have to start where we are, in our homes, in our relationships, and in our own hearts.

Our homes are where we and our families live. Home is more than the physical space where we live. A house is just a building, but a home implies the relationships between the people living together. Home is where we grow and learn the most important life lessons of unconditional love, respect for one another, taking care of one another and of the things around us, and how to be fair.

Home is where children become adults, citizens of the community. Home is where faith is kindled, explored, and encouraged. Faith is born as we pray together before a meal, or at bedtime, and as parents answer the deep questions from children of life and death and what it all means. Home is where two people who love each other will share a meal every day, sometimes for more than fifty years.

The home can be a sacred place. When we consider something blessed, worthy of spiritual respect or devotion, or as a place where God can be found, we say that it is sacred. Can God be found in our homes? In Revelation, the story of the New Jerusalem tells us that “The home of God is among mortals.”[3] Jesus told the disciples, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”[4] God is at home in our homes, in our relationships, and in our hearts.

It is important then, if God is living with us in our homes, that we make God feel welcome. How should we welcome God into our homes? This may be easier than we think. There was a time, long ago, when God didn’t have a home. When the Hebrews, the Jews, first escaped from slavery in Egypt, and settled in the Promised Land, they worshiped God in a big tent called a Tabernacle. Did you know that there are at least 29 chapters in our Bible – in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers – that talk about how the Tabernacle was built, decorated, and used?

God spoke with King David, and his son, King Solomon, about having a house built to replace the tent. This house was called the Temple. Solomon built this Temple, and there are at least 8 chapters of the Bible that talk about the building, decorating, and use of the Temple. There are 11 more that talk about rebuilding the Temple after it was destroyed. All told, that is 48 chapters of the Bible talking about making a home for God.

But we don’t need to do all of that building and decorating in order to welcome God into our homes. We only need to love Jesus and to make our homes a place that is worthy of blessing. If we want God to be at home with us, then we only need to show love and justice to one another.

A big part of showing love and justice is recognizing that through Christ we are members of God’s family. God’s family includes children of every race and every song. God’s family includes people who are refugees, hungry, poor, and oppressed. God’s family includes you, and me, and everyone we know. Some of us have a better and easier life than others. Some of us struggle every day to survive. And that is not fair, that is not just.

It is not fair that there are over 72 million children in this country living in poverty,[5] and millions without health care, without a spot in Head Start or child care, and countless children who go to bed hungry. But God knows each of their names, their faces, their stories. This is but one example of injustice in our country and in our world. And God calls us to go in pursuit of justice on their behalf. “Justice, only justice, shall you pursue.”

If we are to pursue justice, then we must begin where we are. We must begin with ourselves, our neighbors, our families, and our children, and show them love and justice. We must recognize that every person is a unique and sacred child of God. And we must learn and teach our children to recognize the sacredness of others. Perhaps in doing so, we will spark the desire for justice in their hearts, and in ours.

I want to end with these words, written by Spanish cellist and composer Pablo Casals. I think they sum up what is vital for us to do on behalf of children everywhere.

Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.[6]

God, help us to love you. Help us to keep the word of Jesus and learn to love. Make your home in us. Amen.

[2] Deuteronomy 16:20.

[3] Revelation 21:3.

[4] John 14:23.

[5] https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=u.s.%20population%20poverty&tid=ACSST5Y2020.S1701.

[6] Pablo Casals, Joys and Sorrows (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974).

Sunday, May 15, 2022

They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love

May 15, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Acts 11:1-18; John 13:31-35 [1]

What religion were Jesus and his first followers? The answer is, of course, Jewish. So, let’s look at this vision Peter has when he is praying in Joppa. What he is being shown are animals that Jews cannot eat. According to the laws of Moses recorded in Leviticus, certain animals such as pigs, rabbits, and shellfish are unclean, unacceptable for a Jew to eat. So, what is this vision from heaven? Are the rules suddenly being changed? It seems that way. But if you remember any of the other stories of visions people have in the bible, things are not always exactly what they seem.

You see, the vision is linked with what happened next. Peter’s vision ends and at that very moment three men arrive from Caesarea. They are Gentiles, non-Jews, and the Spirit tells Peter “not to make a distinction between them and us.”[2] Up to this point, only Jews could become Christians. Part of the reason for this is that in order to understand who Jesus is you have to know something about Judaism.

It’s the same reason that our Christian bibles have not only the New Testament stories about Jesus but the Old Testament also. What we know as the Old Testament is the Jewish bible. It helps us understand Jesus when we understand where he came from, what his culture was like, how the Jewish people understood God, and what their idea of Messiah was. At least, that’s what Peter and those around him thought. There are prerequisites to being Christian. Peter’s vision, and its accompanying interaction with a group of Gentiles, suggests that maybe you don’t have to have all the keys before you walk through the door.

This was a breakthrough moment for Peter and the other disciples. It was a realization that the gospel, the salvation of people through Jesus Christ, was not meant just for one small group of people. God’s grace and love were not limited to Jews only. “The Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.”[3] Yes, the rules are changing. “And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’”[4] God has big plans, bigger than you can imagine, and who are we that we could hinder God?

The differences between us don’t matter to God. You’ve heard it said: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”[5] The rules that are designed to keep us apart have been broken by this God who loves all people. God is bigger than one group or another. There is no longer Catholic or Protestant, there is no longer Presbyterian or Methodist, there is no longer Congregational or Evangelical. God is bigger than any denomination. God is the Creator of the entire universe and all that is within it. God’s love is not limited to this people or that; God’s love is for all people, no exceptions.

This is what it means to be Christian; it is about something much bigger than any of us. We are members of St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois. But we are also members of the United Church of Christ in the United States of America. And, most importantly, we are Christians, along with all the members of all the other churches all around the world. We are all members of the family of God.

There are some things you should know about this family. You see, people can tell when you’re part of this family. There is a way of life, a way of being in the world that is evidence of your membership in this family. It is the way of love.

Let me ask you, what do you do when you love something? Me, I love chocolate. When there is chocolate in the room, my attention gets drawn to it. I spend time thinking about it. I like to tell other people about it, and I can get really enthusiastic about it. Dude, I had this really dark chocolate from Ghirardelli and it was unbelievable! You have to try it! I sometimes stash chocolate around the house so I can find it later and savor a moment with my chocolate. I’ve gone out of my way to get chocolate. I really love chocolate.

So, what happens when you love someone? Your heart races, your mind gets all fuzzy. You spend a lot of time thinking about the one you love. You want to make them happy. You work hard to please them, and you want them to notice how much you care. You miss one another when you’re apart, and you can’t wait to be together again. As love grows deeper, you communicate better, you share your joys and your sorrows, you talk about your deepest fears and your most precious hopes for the future. You become partners through life, dancing to the same inner rhythm. People can tell when you love someone.

“Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”[6] Jesus’ disciples were good friends. You’d have to be to work so closely and so hard and at such risk for three years. They cared about each other, not in a romantic sense, but like siblings or best friends. But Jesus is pushing them toward something more. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”[7] This is not a suggestion. This is not “Hey, can’t we all just get along?” This is a commandment, and it is bigger than all of them.

The earliest Christian communities functioned like large families. “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”[8] They loved and cared for one another, for all the believers, but it was more than that. The love that they had extended to their neighbors, the people around them in their communities, even those whom others considered outcast. Their love extended across traditional dividing lines of religion and culture too; remember the Jew/Gentile thing? But it was more than that.

People could tell they were Christians by their love. The love just spilled out of them. Their love for the things in the world around them, their love for the people around them, their obvious love for God expressed in prayer, praise, and song. They were bursting with love, and they never stopped. Their love flowed into others, who passed that love along to their children, and grandchildren, and so on. That love flowed into the people who founded the church in this place, into your ancestors, and it flows now into you. It is the Holy Spirit. It is the love of God that seeks to flow through every heart. Just as my love of chocolate is hard to hide, just as people can tell when you love someone, God’s Holy Spirit of love overflows the Christian heart. Look around. Can you tell you’re surrounded by Christians? Amen.

[2] Acts 11:12.

[3] Acts 11:15.

[4] Acts 11:18.

[5] Galatians 3:28.

[6] John 13:34.

[7] John 13:34.

[8] Acts 2:44-45.

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Abide in Love

May 8, 2022 – Mothers’ Day
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

John 15:1-8 [1]

Who is the gardener in your family? For me, it is my mother. I have memories of her working away in the back yard, digging weeds, pruning the bushes, planting flowers. Gardening kept her moving and brought her joy. When my parents moved into the mountains away from lawns and gardens, she still found a way to garden. There was a patch of meadow by their house where my mother diligently weeded out the invasive species. It was hard work – on her knees most of the time – and never-ending, but she loved it. She now lives in an apartment, but still finds ways to tend to and nurture the world around her.

Even though most of us have never tended a vineyard, anyone who has gardened or seen a grapevine can understand the symbolism in this passage. The branches wind around one another, support one another, and – if they are not well tended – can get rather unruly. Too many stray branches will reduce the fruitfulness of the entire vine, so the vine-grower must prune regularly. Branches that break off from the vine wither, and cannot bear fruit. They must be gathered and tossed in the fire. A vineyard is a long-term, labor-intensive investment. Tending a vineyard can be almost as much work as raising children.

My mother tended another garden – our home, where my sister and I were the branches. Just as the vine needs sunlight, water, and good soil, so we needed fresh air and shelter, nourishment, and a loving community. Mom provided a home for us in which we lived, grew, and ultimately became fruitful. I can’t think of home without thinking of mom.

The word abide means “to live in” or “to make a home in.” In THE MESSAGE translation of the Bible, by Eugene Peterson, verse 4 of John 15 reads, “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you.”[2] Jesus takes this motherly image of home and applies it to himself; he is to be a home for the disciples. For the early Christians, many of whom had been uprooted from their homes, villages, and families, and who faced oppression and persecution, this image is meant as a comfort. Wherever you go, no matter what happens, you always have a home in Christ. And if you abide in Christ, you remain attached to the vine, connected to the nourishment of God’s love.

It is the relationship with God, the one who tends the vine, which is emphasized here. Bearing fruit is not a prerequisite to being a branch. The branch bears fruit because of its relationship with the vine, and the care of the vine-grower. My mother raised us to make a difference in the world, and because of her tender care, and necessary pruning, my sister became a teacher and I became a pastor. Christ abides in all of us, and when we live close to the vine, we bear much fruit. As Barbara Essex wrote in a commentary on this passage, “When God is doing the maintenance, we are assured that new life and new growth will result.”[3] Fruitful Christians live out the love of God, and love of neighbor, and we do so together as branches of the one vine.

Of course, just like my mother tending the garden, the maintenance work is ongoing. The weeds need to be dug up. The branches that fail to produce fruit need to be pruned. My mother was diligent to weed out my misbehaviors, and prune my unproductive endeavors. Jesus warns the disciples that God, too, is engaged in weeding and pruning. As another scholar, Stephen Cooper wrote, “The imperative to bear fruit in works of love is reinforced by the image of the branch that fails to respond positively to God’s pruning and providential care. That branch ‘withers’; cut off from its source of life and fruitfulness, its usefulness is reduced to wood for the fire.”[4] When we cut ourselves off from the love of God, when we focus our energy on destructive behaviors and fail to act with love, we are cut off from the vine and we wither.

But there is a big difference between being pruned and being cut off from the vine. When we are cut off, we abide no longer with the source of life. Those who go it alone find failure more often than success. And even success is bitter when it cannot be shared and enjoyed with a loving community. When we abide in the community of God’s love, however, we find joy that can be shared, and we also find the grace and strength to support us in tragedy and failure. It has been said that we are stronger together that we could ever be on our own. Alone, we are just individuals, in danger of withering like branches. But as members of the family of God, we are part of the vine itself.

As branches of the vine, we must be pruned in order to bear more fruit. We must put aside all that gets in the way of living out the commandments of Christ to love God and our neighbor. Nancy Blakely gives a wonderful explanation of what can happen when we remain close to the vine, to Christ, to the source of life:

As in nature, the pruning and the abiding are held together. When we remain that close to Jesus, we attuned to him and he to us, the remarkable result is that what we want will be what God wants, and it will surely come to pass. “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (v. 7). All that is extraneous is carefully and lovingly removed. What remains is centered and focused in God’s word.[5]

As we seek to center ourselves in God’s word, to live out the commandments of Christ, and to nurture one another as with a mother’s love, what is the fruit that we hope to bear? What difference can we make in this community and in our world? St. John’s has deep roots in this community. Our branches have brought the love of God to Union, Marengo, and beyond. We have touched people’s lives across this country and around the world. We can continue to do so. Because of our relationship with God, because Christ abides in us, because the Holy Spirit empowers us to live in love, we can bring glory to God by the living of our lives. Amen.

[1] Unless otherwise noted, the scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[3] Barbara J. Essex, Homiletical Perspective on John 15:1-8 in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, year B, volume 2, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, General Editors (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), pp. 472-477.

[4] Stephen A. Cooper, Theological Perspective on John 15:1-8 in Ibid.

[5] Nancy R. Blakely, Pastoral Perspective on John 15:1-8 in Ibid.

Sunday, May 1, 2022

What Has Changed?

May 1, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

John 21:1-14 [1]

They went back to fishing. I suppose they were at a loss for what to do. It had been three amazing years on this journey, following Jesus whom they had come to know as Teacher, Lord, Christ, the Son of God. They had worked at the side of the Lord, seen miracles, grown to love one another like family, and now it was all over. Jesus was gone. Sure, they had seen him alive again, but then he had disappeared. It’s not so easy to follow someone you can’t see.

A few years ago, I went on a mission trip with the youth group from the church in Western Springs. We traveled together for ten days in Atlanta, Georgia. We served in a couple of soup kitchens, the food depository, a forest preserve, and two community gardens. Working side by side, we grew closer together, learned new things, and saw God at work in the world in ways that we hadn’t before. We arrived home with a tremendous feeling of camaraderie, fulfillment, and love for God. But, you know, after a month or so, the feeling had pretty much faded. Regular, everyday life had reasserted itself. The close bonds we had formed began to weaken and fray since we weren’t together all the time any more. We no longer saw God present in every moment.

You can almost hear Simon Peter say, “Now what do we do?” How do we keep going? Saving the world is all well and good, but how are we supposed to start? Well, no sense in sitting around waiting for something to happen. As the Proverb says: “an idle person will suffer hunger.”[2] So, better be sensible and get back to work. “I’m going fishing.”

Life goes on. It’s great to go off on an adventure to another place; but, when you get home, what has changed? Everyone else went on about their business. They’d like to see your pictures and hear some stories, but then we all have to get back to school, get back to work, get on with our lives.

Of course, the seven of them hadn’t gone fishing in three years. They were a bit out of practice. And it doesn’t help when some wise guy comes along and rubs salt in the wound. “Good morning! Did you catch anything for breakfast?” “No,” they replied, and probably said some other things under their breath. Their recent experience had been amazing; but, in the meantime, their skills had suffered, they were rusty and fumbling about.

But this guy on the shore was really wise and knew just where the fish were. “It is the Lord!” cried John. Jesus has come again, calling them out of their stupor, away from their attempt to return to an ordinary life, and toward the changed life they had been preparing for. What has changed? They have. They are no longer fishermen, but disciples, apostles, preachers, teachers, bearers of the gospel, and when they eat breakfast on the shore it is Jesus who prepares the meal.

The journey, the adventure, changes us. The journey doesn’t have to be a physical one – I have gone on many adventures through novels, films, and occasionally sitting in church. What matters is getting outside of the ordinary, the things we are used to and that are so familiar that we don’t even notice them anymore. We go, and when we come back, we are different. It’s kind of like visiting your old elementary school. The hallways seem shorter, the ceiling lower, the desks smaller. The school is the same; it is we who have changed. We are different because of the journey. We have learned new things, seen wonders, and our perspective has expanded. We can try to go back to our old ways, but we’re out of practice. We used to do this stuff without thinking, but now we can’t stop thinking.

Not everyone is so changed by the journey that they go off to start a religion. Jesus didn’t call the crowds to breakfast on the shore. It was the disciples, the ones who had been in training, that were reminded that their life was to be radically different. But the story speaks to us as well, about the change that can happen in us.

“Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them.” A rather ordinary act for people gathered for a meal – someone please pass the bread. But this simple act was, for the disciples, infused with meaning. “They knew it was the Lord.” They had been changed by their journey with Jesus, and now the sharing of the bread held oceans of meaning – the last supper, the broken body, the sacrifice of the Son, the spiritual food. Because of their experiences, everything took on new meaning, and even who they were had changed. They were no longer fishermen, they were disciples who fished.

This can happen for us as well. We can be changed by our journey, by our adventures, by our walk with Jesus. We only need allow our perspective to be changed, remember that we are a changed people, and not slip back into old ways of thinking. I am no longer a farmer; I tend God’s garden. I am no longer a baker; I prepare bread for the Lord’s Supper. I am a servant of God, and everything I do can be done in the name of God. The temple of the Lord is no longer a building, but encompasses the whole world.

My vocation is being a Christian. Ministry is more than the work that I do, it is a way of living, and we are all called by God to our own ministry. Each of us is invited to share the meal, and we can all find the living God in the bread that is shared. When we allow the journey to change us, we can live in a new way, as new people.

Living a Christian life means bringing a sense of the sacred to ordinary tasks, doing the small things with great love, and viewing the world with awe. It means remembering that we belong to God, that we work for God, and that God is present with us in every moment. It means to pray without ceasing, to praise God with every breath, to make every action count. Our intention, our purpose, can change the day-to-day living of a life into an act of holy worship.

What has changed? Only everything.

[2] Proverbs 19:15.