So God Made The Church

Matthew 9:35-10:8

September 24, 2017

 

Today we continue our series,

“What Christians Believe and Why It Matters,”

And today we’re looking at the phrase from the Apostles’ Creed:

“I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints.”

 

What is the church – and how is it holy and catholic?

 

Perhaps it’s best to give an example of how I think

We as a church were holy and catholic this week…

 

Several days ago I got a call from Kari Galloway, the executive director of Guest House.

Many of you know that Guest House, just a couple of blocks down the street,

Is a residential program for women who have been incarcerated.

 

Kari was calling because one of their clients was in need.

She had a baby who was born at fullterm but stillborn..

She was calling various churches to see if they could help this young mother with burial expenses.

 

Well, about 20 years ago, Good Shepherd was gifted with a burial plot at a cemetery in town.

We didn’t have much time to figure this out,

So we sent an email to our council members to see if they would agree

To gift this cemetery plot to this mother so she could bury her child.

 

Within a few hours (that itself was a miracle!) we had a unanimous ‘yes.’

 

This is what it means to be the ‘holy’ church…

The church that isn’t perfect, yet is ‘set apart’ for God’s purposes.

The church is holy when it acts on behalf of God.

I can think of nothing more holy than to give a mother a place to bury her son.

 

But there’s more to this story….

The church is also ‘catholic’ – meaning not Roman Catholic,

But universal – everywhere.

 

I visited this mother at her apartment.

She talked about her pregnancy.

She had had twins, but one died at 8-9 weeks.

The rest of the pregnancy seemed to be fine – until it wasn’t.

Two days before she delivered,

She stopped feeling the baby move.

Her obstetrician confirmed that the baby had died.

 

After giving birth, the mother cradled her young son for two days in the hospital.

She showed me a memento box that the hospital had given.

I untied the ribbon on the lime green box and looked inside.

There was a footprint of the baby,

A tiny bracelet someone had made with his name.

And there were photos.

 

Nurses had taken photos of the baby and his mother –

These were precious to his mother.

 

After looking at these items I told the mother that we could have a memorial service

At the church if she would like…

She looked at me and said, “Really? That would be okay?”

You see, she’d never been part of a church –

She didn’t know that it was possible to have a memorial service at a church where she wasn’t a member.

 

The memorial service will be here on Saturday morning.

 

The church is ‘catholic’ – it is universal – it is everywhere the gospel is proclaimed;

Especially when it is proclaimed to a young mother who has never been part of a church,

But who has lost a child and wants to pray.

 

I believe in the holy catholic church.

 

This morning we welcome new members…

 

As Brice and Paige and Maja and Billy and Nicole and Matthew and Sarah join us in mission,

we are reminded once again that none of us ‘belongs’ to this church or any church –

Rather we are the church – we become the holy catholic church,

Not perfect, but Set apart for God’s purposes.

 

Andy Stanley is a pastor who writes a lot about the ‘church.’

One of the things he’s noted about the church in the New Testament

Is that its “primary activity is to one another one another.”

 

Let me say that again:

The primary activity of the church is to one another one another.

 

The greek word for ‘one another’ is allolethon –

And according to Stanley, the word occurs 59 times in the New Testament….

 

This is the activity of the church:

Encourage one another;

Serve one another;

Forgive one another;

Bear one another;

Be kind to one another;

Teach one another;

Show hospitality to one another;

Guide one another;

Love one another – and love one another – and love one another – and love one another –

This is repeated about a dozen times in the NT.

 

The primary activity of the church is to one another one another.

 

In our reading from the gospel of Matthew,

Jesus is traveling from cities and villages in Galilee,

Teaching about the kingdom of God

And healing people.

 

Crowds gather around him and Jesus is filled with compassion.

He realizes he can’t do all this one anothering by himself;

He needs more people – more laborers for the harvest.

 

And so he makes the church…

He commissions his disciples to do what he’s been doing –

To help in the one anothering.

 

The primary activity of the church is to one another one another.

 

Some you probably remember a Super Bowl ad from 4-5 years ago….

I don’t remember what it was advertising,

But Paul Harvey’s voice is in the background,

And the title of the piece is “So God made a farmer.”

 

Well with apologies to Paul Harvey,

Here is “So God made the church.”:

 

And on the 8^th day, God looked down on earth and said,

I need a caretaker….

So God made the church.

 

God said I need somebody willing to get up in the morning,

And notice the sun as it’s rising

And the birds singing,

And the leaves that are changing color

Who doesn’t take it for granted,

But sees it all as a gift that needs care for future generations….

So God made the church.

 

God said I need somebody willing to sit up all night by the bed of an old woman,

And when she dies, to give thanks for her life,

And bring casseroles and write cards and make telephone calls

To family members.

So God made the church.

 

It had to be somebody who was willing to come home late

And yet would stop for an hour to help a neighbor fix his car,

or attend a choir rehearsal – all before supper.

So God made the church.

 

And God said I need somebody who will pay attention to the news,

Who will look at laws not for the sake of themselves,

But for the sake of the poor,

For the sake of peace,

For the sake of justice.

So God made the church.

 

God said I need somebody to help…

After hurricanes and earthquakes;

And tsunamis … and war.

And I need somebody to speak truth in South Africa

And to march in Montgomery.

So God made the church.

 

I need someone strong enough to carry food to the food pantry

And gentle enough to cry at a baptism.

So God made the church.

 

God said I need somebody to pray and teach and quilt and cook and sing,

And give and serve and feed and share

…And hope and dream and laugh …and finally to rest.

So God made the church…

 

So God made the church…the holy catholic church.

 

Amen.

 

Faith Story: The Amazing Food Packing Event

Faith story shared at worship by Lori Strauss

Good Morning.  By now, almost everyone here probably knows that we hosted the Amazing Food Packing Event here at Good Shepherd.  And you might have heard me or Corinne or Pastor say we need  100 volunteers to pack 20,000 meals in 2hours—and a few more to help create our celebration picnic afterward with Ezher Mosque from Fairfax.

My faith story today is about the results of that plan.

We asked for 100 volunteers—174 showed up.

We asked for 20,000 meals in 2 hours- We packed them in 90 minutes.

We had more than 100 volunteers in our basement wearing hairnets and plastic gloves working in unison to create these little packages.

Those are the blessing that we can count.  I also want to share a few of the God moments that happened during those 3 hours.

The first blessing was that I work at AARP Foundation, and we put on giant meal packs every year that pack a million meals- so I was familiar with the process of a Meal Pack and how to set up the volunteer structure to make it happen.  I happen to church council and Pastor happened to talk to me AFTER she and Denise had come up it the amazing idea—which allowed me to bring my knowledge to the project to help it run smoothly.

Our church gave me a chance to contribute deeply to something I believe in.

The second blessing was that Kate from the Community College program that’s funded by the U.S. State Department found our event and brought 30 adults from countries around the world to volunteer.  They told me that the women in that group who were Muslim and work head scarves called them up before the event because they were very concerned about coming INSIDE a church for the volunteer event.  They were coming to volunteer but they were scared about what they would find here.  They walked up and saw the kind faces of our Welcome Team who were also welcoming our friends from Elzher Mosque and their fear turned to excitement.

Our church helped people from around the globe meet Christians and feel safe  while they contributed to the needs of our community.

The third blessing for me, was that I got to meet Karl Johnson, a Good Shepherd member who was married here in 1964.  He volunteered downstairs at a packing station and then joined the picnic.  We had a chance to talk. I learned about his family, and he learned about mine.

Our church gave us a chance to connect over a meal- for the first time.

I am looking forward to joining more opportunities for connection and service. More amazing events with more amazing people.

What’s Going On In Your Head?

Acts 2:1-4; John 20:19-23

With help from Adam Hamilton’s book, “Creed”

 

What’s going on in your head?

What voices do you hear over and over again?

 

All of us have them…

Sometimes the voices in our head are helpful, inspiring…

And sometimes they’re not.

 

About 20 years ago my friend Shannon was raising her daughter largely on her own.

She was taking her to dance and gymnastics;

And working two and sometimes three jobs in between.

She’d recently been divorced and moved from a large “McMansion”

To a two bedroom apartment.

 

One day I watched her reading a story to her daughter,

And I made what I thought was a simple comment: “You’re such a good mom!”

 

I wasn’t prepared for Shannon’s reaction…

She started to cry.

 

You see, the voices in her head were telling her something quite different.

They were telling her that she wasn’t good enough.

That she was failing her daughter.

 

Today we’re talking about the Holy Spirit,

And we can think of the Spirit of God as that voice from God which nudges us, comforts us, encourages, and sometimes challenges us.

The voice which says unequivocally that we are God’s children.

We belong just as we are.

 

What voice is going on in your head?

 

The Holy Spirit is tough to talk about.

It’s sometimes called the ‘neglected’ person of the Trinity.

 

We have a whole paragraph in the Apostles’ Creed about  Jesus,

And then just one line about the Spirit:

“I believe in the Holy Spirit.”

 

About once a month I see a ‘spiritual director.’

Now with that title, you’d think she’d be an expert on the spirit.

That she’d be able to tell me exactly what the spirit is doing in my life.

But it doesn’t seem to work that way…

Together we try to discern the Spirit, wonder about where the spirit is leading….

But it’s never absolutely clear.

 

The Spirit is mentioned a lot in the Bible.

 

In the Old Testament the Hebrew word, “ruach” is translated as ‘spirit.’

There are about 80-90 times in the OT where the spirit is mentioned.

 

The Spirit of God is said to be the source of life.

‘the spirit hovered over the waters…’

 

The Spirit of God is said to be the source of creativity.

There’s a man named Bezalel in Exodus 31, around the time of Moses,

Who is said to have the Spirit gift of artisanry, of creativity –

And he’s asked to build the ornamentation for the tabernacle.

 

The Spirit of God is also said to be the source of wisdom.

Joshua is anointed as the leader of the Israelites

And he’s said to have been given the Spirit of wisdom.

 

The Spirit of God seems to be the source of superhuman strength…

Samson is strengthened by the Spirit to defeat the Philistines.

 

Throughout the OT, particular leaders are said to have received the Spirit of God

And they receive wisdom and strength to do their work.

 

But this changes in a significant way in the New Testament.

                In the New Testament the Spirit of God is given to everyone.

 

Everyone is able to hear the voice of God through the Spirit.

 

Whose voice is playing in your head?

Is it the Spirt of God? Or is it something else?

 

This week the sociologist Brene Brown has a new book out.

It’s called “Braving the Wilderness.”

This is her 3^rd or 4^th book,

And she typically writes about being human – being vulnerable – and accepting who we are.

 

I’ve only read the first couple of chapters,

But I love the title – ‘braving the wilderness.’

Last week we heard how Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness was a pivotal moment for him –

He was thrust into the wilderness by the Spirit,

And came out with a mission, a ministry.

 

All of us have wilderness experiences,

And Brown encourages us to use that time to be brave – to take risks –

To be willing to do something different – something authentic to who we are.

(Paul Tillich called that the ‘Courage to Be.’)

 

She says that human beings have a need to belong –

And sometimes our belonging takes the shape of inauthenticity –

We surround ourselves with people who agree with us, who have the same religious and political beliefs and we’re afraid that if we step out and challenge those beliefs, we won’t “belong” any more.

 

Brown says,  “brave the wilderness.’

See your value in your true self – not in the conformity to others.

 

Sometimes the voice of the Spirit is encouraging –

Telling us that ‘ you are a good mother’ when our inner voices are telling us otherwise.

 

Sometimes the voice of the Spirit challenges us to take risks;

To stand up for what we truly believe;

To brave the wilderness.

 

It’s interesting to hear the juxtaposition of two stories today about receiving the holy spirit.

 

In the version from Acts,

Jesus’ followers hear the sound like the rush of a mighty wind;

The spirit blows through them and their heads light on fire!

The Spirit is a powerful force to be reckoned with!

 

And those disciples who were once afraid,

Begin to preach boldly.

They learn the languages of strangers,

Braving the wilderness….

 

The gospel of John is different.

Here, the disciples are gathered behind a locked door

And they’re scared.

Jesus comes through the door and stands among them and says,

“Peace be with you.”

He shows them his wounded hands and side and says again,

“Peace be with you.”

 

And then this is how the Spirit comes….

He breathes on them.

Jesus simply exhales …. And that peace which was so elusive, falls upon them.

 

Sometimes the Spirit of God comes with the breath of peace.

 

I lived with my friend Brenda for about a year after seminary.

Every morning we’d have breakfast at her kitchen table.

It was a lovely setting – she had a set of French doors looking out to the backyard.

 

One day she told me why she sat in that spot every day.

She said she remembered sitting there on the day of her mother’s funeral.

And as she ate her breakfast, she looked out and saw a hummingbird.

Her mother loved hummingbirds.

She understood that hummingbird to be a sign of the Spirit – a sign of comfort – a sign of peace.

 

Sometimes the Spirit of God comes as the voice of encouragement –

“You are a good mother.”

Sometimes the Spirt of God comes as the voice of challenge –

“Brave the wilderness.”

And sometimes the Spirit of God comes as the voice of peace –

As a hummingbird.

 

What are the voices in your head?

How is the Spirit of God speaking to you?

 

Amen.

 

 

 

Doing That Jesus Thing

 

Link to audio version of the sermon:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z38l68wuyb8v5lx/The%20Jesus%20Thing.m4a?dl=0

Doing That Jesus Thing

Part 2 of Worship Series: What Christians Believe and Why It Matters

With help from the book “Creed” by Adam Hamilton

John 1:1-14

September 10, 2017

 

A couple of weeks ago a few of us were talking out in the hallway;

Many of us have had the experience with people saying –

Your church does a lot of great things –

But I just don’t do that “Jesus thing.”

 

What is that “Jesus thing”?

 

A number of years ago I remember a huge sense of relief

When I discovered that Jesus was a historical figure –

He was someone I didn’t have to take ‘on faith’ –

That there were historians – historians who didn’t follow him – who wrote about him.

 

Flavius Josephus and Tacitus were historians of the time of Jesus

Who wrote about Jesus being crucified under Pontius Pilate.

 

Later, Seutonius wrote about the fact that Jews who followed Jesus and Jews who didn’t

Were creating disruption in Rome,

so Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome in 49 AD.

 

Around the year 110, Pliny wrote a letter to his emperor asking for some advice.

He didn’t know what to do about these people in his province

who were worshipping Jesus as a god.

 

Contemporary agnostic Bart Ehrman remarked…

“Jesus really did exist…whether we like it or not!”

 

Who was this Jesus?

What is that “Jesus thing”?

 

Most of what we know about the life of Jesus comes from the gospels

Of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

 

Jesus was born ~4BC – under the reign of Herod the Great.

Shortly after birth he and his parents lived in the village of Nazareth.

His father was a woodworker –

Which meant that his job was likely to make furniture, repair tools,

And perhaps do some stone masonry work for clients in the larger city of Sepphoris.

 

Many of the villagers in Nazareth would have been laborers

For the wealthier people living in Sepphoris.

 

Fast forward 30 years – because we don’t really know much about Jesus’ early life.

 

Jesus goes from Nazareth to the Jordan River.

There his cousin John is telling people to repent –

To turn away from their current way of living and turn toward God.

He is immersing people in the water of the Jordan as a sign of that repentence – of cleansing.

 

Jesus is baptized by his cousin

And then he goes into this time of wilderness for 40 days.

It’s described as a time of testing or temptation.

 

It’s a pivotal moment for Jesus because he comes out of that experience

Ready for ministry – his mission is set.

 

Jesus’ ministry lasts merely 3 years.

 

One of my favorite songs about Jesus’ ministry is John Bell’s “First Born of Mary”.

 

In the song Jesus is described as a

Provocative preacher;

Itinerant teacher; and

Choice of outsiders.

 

He’s provocative in his preaching.

The word ‘provocative’ means to call out – and he calls out everyone!

 

He calls out the religious leaders –

Particularly when they get so concerned for their rules and ways of doing things

That they neglect to show compassion.

There’s a story of Jesus in the synagogue,

And he sees a women who is bent over –

She has been bent over for 18 years –

And he heals her.

That gets him into all sort of trouble with the religious leaders because it’s the Sabbath–

But Jesus reminds them that the Sabbath was created for humans,

Not the other way around.

He calls out the religious when they try to make their rules

More important than compassion.

 

Jesus is a provocative preacher.

He calls out the religious leaders…and he also calls out the secular leaders.

He talks about a different kind of kingdom than the one Rome was living out.

He said that in the kingdom of God,

The people love God, love their neighbors…and love their enemies.

He said that in the kingdom of God,

Those who are hungry are fed;

Those who are naked are clothed;

And those who are sick or imprisoned are visited.

 

Jesus was a provocative preacher – he called out the religious leaders, he called out the secular leaders,

And he even had the audacity to call out the people who were sitting right in front of him –

He called them out as well.

 

He told this great story about a man who was traveling and was beaten up by robbers

And left in a ditch.

A religious leader walked by and saw the man in the ditch,

But crossed the road to the other side.

A priest walked by and saw the man, but hurried on without stopping.

 

A third man walked by on the road,

Saw the man in the ditch, and began to care for him.

He even put him on his own donkey,

Brought him to an inn, and told the innkeeper to continue to care for him,

And he would repay him for whatever he spent.

 

And then Jesus came out with the zinger…

This man – this 3^rd man – was a Samaritan….

He was the one the people listening to him disliked because he was an outsider –

Ethnically and religiously different from them.

Jesus called out his listeners and said,

In God’s kingdom, there is no room for prejudice.

 

Jesus was a provocative preacher;

And of course he was an itinerant teacher.

 

His home base was in Capernaum.

Scholars think that he traveled at most 100 miles from home in his lifetime!

He walked from village to village around the Sea of Galilee –

Really a misnomer because it’s actually an inland lake.

 

He taught on mountainsides, in valleys, and sometimes crowds got so large,

He’d get on a boat and teach from the water.

 

He taught things like God’s desire for forgiveness rather than revenge;

That to be truly ‘great’, one must be a servant;

That humility is a virtue.

 

He was a provocative preacher, itinerant teacher,

And he was the choice of outsiders.

 

There’s a story about a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years sees Jesus.

She’s been to doctor after doctor and none could help her.

She was thought to be ‘unclean’ because of her bleeding – unwelcome, untouchable.

She reaches out and touches just the edge of Jesus’ robe…

And she is healed.

 

Outsiders feel safe around Jesus.

He touches them and they are healed – people with all kinds of diseases.

 

Well about a week before Passover,

Jesus is headed to Jerusalem.

 

And he arrives on a donkey

(which is rather remarkable because no where else in the Bible does he ride on a donkey),

And the people are clamoring about him shouting, “Hosanna!”

They are convinced he’s the Messiach – which means the ‘anointed one.’

They are convinced he’s the one who will lead them out of oppression by the Romans;

Lead them to liberation.

 

The word “Christ” in Greek means ‘anointed one,’

And that name stuck to Jesus –

Such that when we hear “Jesus Christ” it’s easy to assume “Christ” was his last name.

But it’s not – it’s his title – Jesus, Anointed One – Jesus Christ.

 

Well the religious leaders and the secular leaders

Are threatened by this ‘messiah’ who talks about a new kingdom,

And Pontius Pilate does what he’s done before with other messiahs who had similar claims –

He sentences Jesus to death.

 

And he thinks this will be the end of it.

 

But this time, it doesn’t work.

 

First a couple of women say that they’ve seen Jesus alive.

And then some of Jesus’ followers – about a dozen of them – say that they’ve seen Jesus alive –

In different places and in different circumstances.

And then we’re told that 500 people at one time saw him alive.

 

And that thread – that Jesus was put to death but then was/is alive again,

Is a thread that carried on through his followers, through the other writings of the New Testament, and through 2000 years to today.

 

Jesus is living.

 

The gospel of John puts it this way:

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

 

Jesus is living among us still.

 

He is alive when we experience provocative preaching –

Which calls us out to love our enemies,

Feed those who are hungry;

Clothe those in need;

And visit the sick and imprisoned.

 

He is alive when we experience his teaching –

Forgiveness, Greatness in service, Humility.

 

He is alive when we welcome the outsider;

When those who have felt unsafe feel accepted by us.

 

This afternoon we will meet the living Jesus.

As we welcome over 130 people to our food packing event this afternoon,

We will be welcoming outsiders.

I have no idea how the word got around,

But over half of these volunteers are not from our church or from the mosque.

We will meet the living Jesus as we welcome them,

As we help them know they can feel safe with us;

And as we prepare these meals to feed people.

 

When we do this,

We are doing “that Jesus thing.”

 

Thanks be to God.

 

Amen.

 

Feeding People Together

Faith story shared by Corinne Baker

God’s work, our hands. This simple, four-word phrase is powerful for me because it describes our faith in action in big and small ways, individually and collectively, over and over. When we gather next Sunday to again put our faith in action, we’ll combine our efforts with members of the Ezher Bloom Mosque and hopefully others from the community under the theme ‘Feeding People Together.’ To me, this is two opportunities to use our hands to do work God has called us to – one that meets an immediate need, providing food for people who are hungry right now, and another that’s toward a longer-term need.

To the immediate need, providing food for people who are hungry right now – think about the meal you last ate. Are you hungry right now?

For many of us here today, tho perhaps not all, if we are hungry right now, we know we’ll eat a meal soon. Most of us probably aren’t worried that the feeling of hunger will be long lasting – with us for hours, for a day, maybe more. But we know there are adults and children in our community who ARE hungry, who have to worry about how to get or provide regular meals.

ALIVE, the ecumenical organization Good Shepherd has worked with for years to help those in need in our community, has two specific food programs. One of them, the last Sat food program provides a five-day supply of fresh produce and staple foods, distributed by volunteers, to about 600 families each month.

Next Sunday afternoon, in two hours, combining efforts with members of the Ezher Bloom Mosque and volunteers from the community for the Amazing Food Packing Event, we’ll pack 20,000 (20,000!) staple meals.

Ezher Bloom will distribute half the meals and the other half, 10,000 meals, will go to ALIVE.

To get an idea of impact, consider this: If all 10,000 meals given to ALIVE are used in the last Saturday food distribution, we’ll provide the staple portion of the five-day food supply for 600 families for over three months. That’s powerful impact for an afternoon of service.

The Amazing Food Packing Event is also an opportunity to feed people together in a way that contributes to another long-term need. As members of a diverse society, we’re personally experiencing and/or observing situations where people are being sorted into us and them groups.

As Christians we know we are all children of God, each created in God’s image, while at the same time each different and unique.

So it seems to me that building relationships, really knowing folks different than us, is a key to all the hard work we have to do as God’s hands, as the church, as members of society and the larger human race.

And we know that relationships–real community–isn’t an overnight thing, rather it’s an ongoing process. Next Sunday is an opportunity to start or continue getting to know folks from the Ezher Bloom Mosque, and hopefully others from the community, work together to pack food for people in need and then share a meal. Hopefully it is one of more opportunities to come to work together, talk with one another, listen and learn in ways that build relationships and ties that weave us into the beloved community.

There are lots of ways to be involved in next Sunday’s Feeding People Together event whether you’re able to attend or not, or participate for part of it.

You can sign-up in the lobby or online (https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/70a0f4eafa823a02-theamazing) for some or all of the food packing and/or the picnic after.

Whether or not you can attend, you can invite friends to participate.

There’s also a sign-up for potluck food and help setting up and tearing down after the picnic.

If you’re not able to attend but want to contribute to the food packing supplies and promotion, designate cash or checks to the food packing event.

If you’re not already planning to participate, I hope you’ll consider how you can be involved in God’s work, our hands – feeding people together.

…