27 Pleasant Street, Concord, New Hampshire, (603)224-2521
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SOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UCC 27 Pleasant Street, Concord, New Hampshire, (603)224-2521 |
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Sermons from our PulpitClick to go to Sermon Archives Unabashedly Open, Unapologetically Christian, Decidedly DifferentOctober 22, 2006Sermon by Jed Rardin Long reading. Short sermon. Let us pray. My friends, these are exciting times to be people of faith. You don't need me to tell you what a prominent role religion now has in shaping global relations and national identities. Here in our own country, what it means to be Christian continues to be an issue of major debate and surprising transformations. Many conservative Christians are taking up causes which used to be considered progressive, such as global poverty and protecting the environment. Progressive Christians are engaging in activities once considered evangelical, educating themselves more deeply in scripture and truly engaging in the areas of personal ethics. On top of all of this, we here at South Congregational Church are, with God's help, embarking on a distinctly new phase of our ministry and history now that Carlos is here and together we seek to live out more fully the spiritual and physical manifestations of our discipleship. Given all of this, it seems only fitting that we ponder the question: how are we called to manifest our faith in these times of change? This is a question we need to ponder together, but it seemed only appropriate that I share with you some of the responses that have been formulating themselves in my heart. More foundational than anything else, I believe that we must not be afraid. To turn this around, it is my earnest prayer that everything you and I undertake together and on our individual journeys, whether large or small, would begin with the simple, unwavering trust that the Living God is here, in our midst, and that God will provide, God will guide, and God will sustain us. If we can be unafraid, then I believe it is our calling to be Unabashedly Open. Open, first, of course, to God, even if it means risking the appearance of being unorthodox. Jesus was so radically open to God, so radically one with God, that it didn't matter if it put him at odds with his own religion. Often. The Judaism Jesus was a part of had always believed that one's holiness had everything to do with one's level of purity. But Jesus was so open to God that he heard a different message, a message his contemporaries actually hated. And that message was that all who would follow in the ways of self sacrifice and compassion are welcome. Jesus was like the proverbial rock thrown into the pond of his own religion. He made waves: waves which engulfed his own life, but ultimately waves of love and compassion which spread out from Galilee into the Roman Empire and beyond, waves which, as we heard in the story of Cornelius and Peter, continually brought to wider and wider circles of humanity the message that all may belong. "As Peter declared to the people of Joppa, "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." Let us be unabashedly open to all who have been created in God's image, which is, of course, everyone. It will mean being willing to be called unorthodox. It will mean having our own eyes opened to some prejudices we didn't know we had. It will mean, as Ted Loder told us five years ago, making ourselves vulnerable to the messyness of the world, and the messyness of our own lives. But that is our calling: to embrace the messes and thereby to discover the unexpected beauty concealed within. If we can be unafraid, then let us be Unapologetically Christian. In word and in deed. Some of us are hesitant to use the language of our own tradition, and even afraid to call ourselves Christian. We assume we don't know enough, or that we're not orthodox enough, or that we don't have the card-carrying credentials of someone who, like Paul, has been knocked from their horse by a life-changing bolt of lightning. We have all the authority we need to claim the title Christian, and its time we started using it. We were baptized into the faith and family of Christ, and we have all of us, in one way or another been nurtured by his church and called to serve in it. Let us stop being afraid of using the rich vocabulary of our own tradition! Let us speak daily in the language of transformation, divine guidance, redemption, forgiveness, grace, healing, compassion and blessing. And while we're at it, let's be radical and get to know our own scriptures! But even more importantly, let us embrace the practices we speak of. Let us pray early and often, with God, and directly with those who need our prayers. Let us practice compassion daily. Offer forgiveness daily. Live generously daily, giving our first fruits and not simply handing out our leftovers. Let us do what small things we can to offer healing. Let us be peacemakers, reconcilers, people willing to love enemies until they become friends. Let us actually beat swords into plowshares and to turn fences into bridges. Let us be willing to suffer for the cause of God's love. Finally, if we can be unafraid, then let it be our delight to be Decidedly Different. We are, of course, well on our way on this count! Any church which has seniors who play kazoos in worship, which had a Minister of Volunteers who did children's moments dressed as an angel standing in a window bay, whose search committee refers to us as a place of joyful discombobulation, which worships in Taize style one Sunday and jazz the next, which has a folding purple labyrinth, which has a Music Minister who routinely invites young people to make music on boomwhackers, which is open and affirming, is already well on its way to being different. "You don't have to live a little outside the box to belong at South Church, but it sure helps." But I propose that we embody a deeper kind of differentness by being indefatigably positive. In an age where the norm in religion and politics seems to be zooming in on the speck in others' eyes while remaining stubbornly unwilling to see the log stuck in one's own eye. Let us be a people of faith willing to move beyond blaming to taking responsibility. Let us, in the language of the bumper sticker, to be the change we want to see in the world. I propose that we embody a deeper kind of differentness by being willing to speak the truth within us to one another and to those in power. I propose that we embody a deeper kind of differentness by holding ourselves and one another more accountable that church folks sometimes do for taking an active role in the health of South church. And I propose that through it all, we never be afraid to make mistakes in calling forth the gifts which God has given to each and every one of us. Let none of us be afraid to Arise, and to Shine. Ultimately, our calling is where our deepest joys converge with the world's deepest needs. Carlos, we welcome your presence, your gifts, and your leadership into our midst. I hope that you will never be afraid, and that with your help, neither will we. Amen. |
