Sermon Text for June 26, 2022 - "Life is the Reason"

 “Life is the Reason”

June 26, 2022

 

            Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

            This morning, as both the beginning and main illustration for today’s sermon, we will be hearing the Rev. Marvin Hileman give a brief presentation about the fire which burned our church’s original sanctuary to the ground back in 1952, seventy years ago this month. We will now hear the story of what happened on that fateful evening:

(Marvin Hileman presentation here; please see the video or hear the podcast for the presentation.)

            Thank you, Marv. What this is an illustration of is something quite simple, and powerful: God has always been faithful. The fire could have done far more damage in a lot of other ways than it did: at the very worst, it could have ended our life as a church family. But that’s not what happened: instead, the sanctuary was rebuilt, and we are still here today. Why? Because God caused it to happen. He is still causing us to worship, fellowship, and serve together, and He has guaranteed our existence to continue. The reason for this is also simple: He has a purpose for us. That purpose is for us to be alive, and in being alive, to give and spread life. More importantly, our purpose is to be alive in Him. The life we have is meant to be lived to carry out the mission God has for each of us.

            Last night, many of us also had the chance to see the movie “Breakthrough” here at the church. Besides being a powerful film, it also had a strong message: God can perform miracles, especially if He has a reason for bringing someone back to life. In the movie, which is based on a true story, a boy, whose name is John Smith, and two of his friends fall through any icy lake near St. Louis, Missouri. John is stuck under the ice for fifteen minutes, and is nearly drowned. He ends up in the hospital without a pulse, with damaged internal organs, fully unconscious, and unresponsive. Several things happen, however: first of all, John’s mother prays for the Holy Spirit to give her back her son, and, after not having a pulse, John suddenly has a pulse. Next, several miracles happen, which no one, not even the doctor, can explain. John’s lungs end up being completely clear and healthy, and he is able to breathe fully on his own again. He regains full use of his mind and senses, and is able to be discharged from the hospital and return to school sixteen days after his accident. He ends up with no permanent physical or mental damage of any kind, and experiences complete healing.

Something else happens as well: early in the movie, one of the first responders, whose name is Tommy, is about to give up after not finding John under the water, but then Tommy hears a voice which says, “Go back.” Listening to the voice, which Tommy thinks is from his Chief, helps him to find where John is under the ice. After finding out the voice didn’t come from the Chief, Tommy is told it had to have been God talking to him. The problem: Tommy doesn’t believe in God. Towards the end of the movie, though, John and Tommy meet by the same lake where John nearly drowned, and Tommy tells John that if God actually exists, then He obviously has a purpose for bringing John back to life. In the epilogue shown at the end of the movie, it says that John is now studying to become a pastor. The real life John Smith also once said in an interview, “I see three 14 year old boys who were being dumb on the ice and that fell through, and that the Lord saved us. And really he used it in his way to save other people, not just the three of us.” 

This is true, because God performed what can only be described, and what was described at the time, as a miracle – something unexpected and out of the ordinary to accomplish a special purpose He had. That is also what is happening in both today’s First Lesson and Gospel Readings, where God performs miracles to bring two beloved sons back to their families. In the First Reading, much like John Smith’s mother, the Prophet Elijah pleads with God to give the boy’s life back to him – and that’s exactly what God does. In the Gospel reading, Jesus Himself commands a young man to come back to life after being dead. These miracles not only bring the boys back to life, but they also cause people to believe. The parents of the boy Elijah raises to life believe in God’s promises more strongly than before. The people who witness Jesus raising the young man to life believe that God is coming in a special way to help His people. Both of these also point to the greatest miracle of life over death of all: God raising His Son from the dead, showing that nothing, not even death, is impossible for Him to overcome. God used what happened to us to save other people, not just ourselves. We may not have realized it, but God has used us to touch and change many different lives of many different people, some of whom we know personally, others whom we may never even meet. God has used us to save people: over the years, God has helped us to be able, in many different ways, to rescue people from hopelessness, addiction, hunger, homelessness, wondering where the next money to live is going to come from, and even wondering whether anyone cares about them or is interested in them. We have caused miracles to happen for people. People have come to believe and trust in God because of us. We have been making a big difference all along, and, if we keep faithful to what God wants for us, we will continue to make a huge difference.

There’s another part of the story of what happened after the fire: two of the items that were discovered undamaged were the Communion vessels and the Bible. The Bible had blown open to a passage which, although no one seems to remember exactly which one, basically said that everything was going to be okay, because God was in control. And that’s what we need to hear more than ever now: everything’s going to be okay, because God is in control. In the movie “Breakthrough,” when John’s mom is able to surrender to God’s will, that’s when the miracles really start coming through. Also, in the movie, when John’s schoolmates, church family, and many others in his community pray for him constantly, that’s also when miracles really start happening. And that’s what we need to be doing right now: we all need to be praying. We need to be praying for God to rescue us from fear and frustration; to help us focus on faith in Him and fellowshipping with each other; and to believe that not only do miracles still happen, God can cause miracles to happen among us right now. But for that to happen, we have to surrender to God’s control. We have to believe that if God could bring two boys back to life in ancient times; if He could give a boy full recovery from being drowned; if He could give us a new sanctuary after a devastating fire; then He will help us rebuild, rebound, revive, and re-grow. There are many churches that are struggling just as we are, so we’re not alone – and we all have to ask God to give us the power to believe and keep going. Miracles still do happen if we expect God to cause them to happen. But we have to believe, and we have to pray. God still has a purpose for us, and He still has a reason for us being alive. So just as our forebears did, let’s keep trusting God, because He is faithful, and He will make us live again.

            Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.

Weekly Word Podcast - Full Worship Service for June 26, 2022

 

06/26/2022 Full Worship Service

Community Ice Cream Social, August 21, 2022

Our Ice Cream Social is coming back! Join us on Sunday, August 21st, from 11:00 to 1:00 for lots of fun and food! We are also inviting the entire community to come, so please feel free to invite your friends and neighbors!

We are in need of donations for food and drinks; signup sheets are available on the back table in the sanctuary. Ice cream will be provided. We also have a signup sheet for workers for that day; if you can help, please feel free to sign up. A reminder to our youth that this will count as a service project towards your Honor Award.

Also, we will be having a Planning Meeting for the Ice Cream Social on Sunday, July 31st, after the worship service. We are in need of someone to head up the Planning Committee! If you're interested, please talk to Pastor Jon.

Fellowship Dinner at Bennett's in Miamisburg, July 20, 2022

 

Our next monthly Fellowship Dinner will be on Wednesday, July 20th, at 6:30 P.M. at Bennett's in Miamisburg! Come for an evening of food and friendship together! Feel free to sign up on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall at church, or let Pastor know if you will be coming.

Family Movie Night, Saturday, June 25th, 2002

 

Join us for a Family Movie Night at St. Andrew! This Saturday, June 25th, at 7:30 P.M., we will be watching "Breakthrough." Popcorn, drinks, and candy will be provided, and admission is free! Come enjoy a special time together this Saturday!

Sermon Text for June 19, 2022 - "Free Access"

 “Free Access”

June 19, 2022

 

            Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

            Those of you who follow me on Facebook know that I’ve been posting corny jokes for the past week. Well, there’s a reason for that: what better way to honor this special day, Father’s Day, than by telling dad jokes? And, since at least a couple of you asked me if any jokes were going to make their way into this morning’s sermon, I’m happy to say yes – I’m more than honored to oblige with one last one: This past week was really hot, wasn’t it? How hot was it? It was so hot I bought a frozen pizza at Kroger, and by the time I drove home, it was already baked and ready to eat! Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get to the real reason we’re celebrating this day. 

Today, on this Father’s Day, we give thanks to God for His special gift of all the dads who are here with us today. We thank God, and your families thank you, for all the love and care you show; all the hard work you have put in to provide for your families and make sure they have everything they need; and all the ways that, especially for those of you are already grandpas and great-grandpas, that you continue to help younger and older members of your families, whether in small ways or larger ways. The wisdom, guidance, skills, and help you provide are truly blessings that you give, and you are blessings to your families, and to every one of us, in many ways. Everything you do, and everything you have done, is worth more than anything you can imagine, or can be expressed. You are of greater worth, to your families and to us, than you can possibly imagine. So we want to encourage you: keep doing what you’re doing and don’t give up. Even though many of you are probably facing challenges in your families right now, especially with things the way they are in the world at the moment, keep doing what you’re doing to love and support your families. We also want to acknowledge that there are those of you who may not consider yourselves “dads” in the traditional sense because you don’t have children of your own. However, you still are father figures: you still provide the same kind of guidance, care, and concern for others, especially children who, even though they may not be your own, have still chosen you to help them grow, and who look to you for all kinds of help. We thank God for you, and want you to know that everything you do, whether for children in your own families, or children in other families or your communities, makes a tremendous difference. We also remember and give thanks to God for all the dads who have gone before us into heaven, and we look forward to seeing them again. This means that today is a bittersweet day for many of us, since we are remembering dads who are no longer with us. We especially remember those dads who were taken from us too soon; and we are allowed to grieve for all the dads who are no longer here with us.  We also recognize that there are some of us who either grew up or are growing up without a stable father or father figure; who suffered abuse at the hands of a father; who are having to deal with being shared between two parents; and so for whom today is probably a difficult one. We want you to know that we are here to support you, we accept you, we are here to help you with whatever you’re going through, and we accept and acknowledge your struggle as being real and valid.

Today, and perhaps even more importantly, we remember and honor our heavenly Father, God. And today’s Bible readings give us a picture of who God, as our heavenly Father, truly is. 

1.              God is almighty. All things are under God’s command and authority. In today’s First Reading from First Kings, King Solomon is praying to God at the dedication of the first Temple in Jerusalem, a place which is meant to be a place where God Himself dwells among His people. In verse 23, Solomon says “there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth below.” And this is true – there is no other God except God, and there is no one else who has complete and supreme control over the world as God does. No other ruler can honestly claim any ultimate authority, because all authority belongs to God. Even when things seem to be going out of control, ultimately, God’s authority prevails, and what He wants to have happen happens: all things ultimately submit to His authority. This is something that is comforting for us because, when anything else wants to insist that it has control, The Centurion in today’s Gospel reading recognizes this: he acknowledges that he is a man under authority, under his military superiors, but that he also has authority, to be able to command people to go and come and follow orders. However, he is also a man of humility: he recognizes that, when a situation comes up he has no control over and doesn’t know how to solve, in this case, having one of his servants be deathly ill, he does what, we can say, any man ought to do in this kind of situation: He asks for help. He recognizes that there is someone who can take charge, and he is willing to give up control to that person. When we are faced with a situation we can’t control or resolve, we can also recognize that there is someone who has greater authority: Jesus. Believe it or not, it is always okay to ask for help. This is especially good for us dads to hear: even though our families come to us for help all the time, we can ask for help when we don’t have the answers. We can seek out the help of another person, and we can ask God for help. We gain respect from our families when we ask for help. And, whenever we ask for help, we grow ourselves as we gain wisdom from others and from God, and so we are able to help our families grow. One of the many wonderful things about God is that, being almighty, He has always been willing to help. Which leads to the second point:

2.              God is unchanging. God has remained the same since before the beginning of time. His nature, characteristics, and everything else about Him has remained unchanged. Also in 1 Kings 8:23, Solomon praises God for keeping His “covenant of love.” This is the same promise God made to everyone at the beginning of the world, throughout history, and which He still makes today: a promise to love everything He has made unconditionally. In this way, He truly is our Father, shows He is unchanged, because He loves each one of us unconditionally, and is willing to do whatever is necessary to show His love – even sending His Son to die and rise again for us. Paul says in today’s Second Reading from Galatians that there is only one Gospel. If we try to add any qualifications on to the Gospel, we are changing our message entirely. And here, especially given what is going on in the present, we have to be clear: if we try to insist that being a Christian means following certain rules, or adhering to a certain ideology or opinion, then we are preaching a false Gospel. Nothing could be farther from the truth, because it is Jesus, and Jesus alone, who saves, not opinion. What makes any one of us a Christian is that we believe and trust in Jesus as our Savior, and that is all that matters. There is only one Gospel: God’s love for all people shown in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Any way in which we attempt to put additional requirements on what it means to be a Christian is an attempt to limit God. Which is the third point:

3.              God is unlimited. God cannot be limited in any way. Just as He is unchangeable in who He is, especially His character, He is also unlimited in who He is. He is even merciful and forgiving to people who we would think don’t deserve mercy or forgiveness. Because He is also almighty, He is King Solomon even acknowledges, in verse 27, that God cannot be contained in one particular building, but that He is everywhere. And now we come to the actual title of today’s sermon: we all have free access to God. God is available to us any time, anywhere. We don’t have to be in any one place for God to help us, nor do we always have to go somewhere special in order to meet God. The Centurion recognizes this, because He insists that Jesus doesn’t have to come to his home in order to heal his servant. He believes that Jesus, even from where he is, can bring healing – which He does. Jesus is also able to assist us wherever we are, because He is also everywhere. Solomon also asks God to hear the prayers of even non-Jews who reach out to God for help – which God does, because He is also not limited in whom He chooses to help. Even when people don’t pray, or if people don’t believe in Him, He still helps them. God also cannot be limited by our own imagination: God never sees anything as being impossible. Nothing can block us from Him, and nothing keeps Him away from us. Whatever we ask Him to overcome for us, He will overcome.

Today, we are also continuing to go over the various parts of our worship service, and the one we are looking at this week happens at the very end of our service. We will hear the encouragement, “Go in peace, serve the Lord,” and then we all will say, “Thanks be to God.” This is a reminder to us that, wherever we are this week, our heavenly Father is there with us. We can leave here with confidence and with the peace that comes from knowing that, whatever this week may bring, God will help us, and, by trusting Him, giving Him control, and asking Him for help, we serve Him. For this we thank God, and, as we celebrate the rest of this Father’s Day, we thank Him for being our wonderful heavenly Father. May we value Him as much as we value our dads today, and may we all say, for everything He does for us, and who He is, thanks be to God.

            Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Weekly Word Podcast - Full Worship Service for June 19, 2022

 

06/19/2022 Full Worship Service

Sermon Text for June 12, 2022 - "New Season, Same Purpose"

 “New Season, Same Purpose”

June 12, 2022

 

            Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

            It’s hard to believe it’s Summer already! It seems like the first half of the year has flown on by, and here we are, looking forward to Summer and everything it has to offer. So, as we look forward to this new season, let’s take a moment briefly to recap where we’ve been so far, and what we can look forward to. We had a bit of a challenging winter, including at least a couple of unexpected major snowstorms, and lingering winter weather even going into Spring, but God, in His grace, helped bring us through safely. Many of us struggled with health issues, or are continuing to struggle with ongoing health issues, but God either brought us safely through those as well, or, we believe, is going to bring us to healing and wholeness again. We celebrated Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, and we were able to revive at least a couple customs during Holy Week which had previously been put on hold due to the pandemic. This past month, we rejoiced with Lilli Miller as she graduated from high school, and Cali Miller and Noah Seim as they were confirmed. We were able to host a successful snack bar to provide refreshment for everyone shopping at the yard sales earlier this month, especially as there were many more yard sales around the community this year. We will be hosting a Family Movie Night on the evening of the 25^th. Much has also been happening with at least a couple of the churches in town as well. Our friends at Slifers have recently welcomed Pastor Shelley Wiley as their new pastor, as well as her husband Jon, and are eagerly looking forward to sharing their new partnership and relationship in ministry together. Our friends at the Methodist church will be saying farewell to Pastor Brian Thie today, and wishing him and his wife Donna well as they move to their new home to await the next adventure and opportunity God has in store for them. The Methodist church will also be looking forward to what God has in store as far as bringing in a new pastor who will lead them through this continuing time of challenge. Even outside of the churches, there are at least a few new things that are going on around town. Over Memorial Day Weekend, we were thankful to dedicate the new Hometown Heroes banners, which are hanging up around the main parts of town. Our newest restaurant, the Farmersville Café, which is operated by the Farmer in the Deli in Germantown, will be fully open starting this coming Wednesday. The Fire Association has begun showing movies on Friday evenings during the summer. So we have had much to celebrate, and much to look forward to. All this is not to say that we will be free of challenges: covid still remains a reality, and one which we still need to be aware of. Recently we had some tornadoes blow through our wider area, and we continue to pray for all those whose homes were lost or damaged in those tornadoes. The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has affected the rest of the world in a lot of ways, not least of which the price of gas, which itself dictates the price of food in grocery stores, delivery costs, and even, especially for farmers, the price of seeds and fertilizer. Yet, one of the blessings is that, even though the overall price of gas remains high, the price at our own gas station has, at least this past week, been lower than most other places in the area. Nevertheless, the cost of living has gone up for every one of us, and our community has been hit hard as a result. One major example of this is CAMP, who served nineteen families just this past Thursday, which is a new high, and is anticipating serving at least thirty families over the next two weeks. Therefore, CAMP is especially in need of canned goods, laundry detergent, dish soap, and shampoo. Increased violence continues to be a problem, especially against churches and schools, and in neighborhoods. Yet, even with these recent celebrations and ongoing challenges, one thing remains constant: God still has a purpose, a direction in which He is leading the world, and He still has a purpose for us.

            Also, in keeping with our ongoing series looking at the various parts of our worship service, today we will be talking about the Apostles’ Creed, which we will be reciting together in just a few minutes. The reason it is called the Apostles’ Creed is because it reflects the teachings of the Apostles, as laid down in the Bible, which we, as heirs of the Apostles, continue to carry on; and which summarize everything the Bible teaches about God, who He is, and what His purpose is. For us, saying the Creed each Sunday is not merely reciting a statement as part of the service, but it is a clear and bold affirmation of what we hold to be true; the truth that determines how we live; and the truth we hold on to to give us an alternative way of thinking about life and the world, especially given the current struggles going on in life and the world, and reminds us what our purpose is, which reflects God’s purpose. We state that we believe in God the Father Almighty, who created heaven and earth. In fact, this is also what we hear in today’s First Lesson from Proverbs: the fact that God, using His wisdom and power, created everything that exists. The wisdom of God also says that it existed even before there was such a thing as time or existence – meaning that God Himself existed even before anything was created. He also, at the very beginning, set boundaries for the oceans, and established foundations for the earth. Even though things may seem to go out of control sometimes, God has, even today, set limits for how far things are allowed to go – meaning that the struggles we now face will eventually come to an end, and be resolved, because God Himself will resolve them. In the meantime, as we hear in today’s Second Lesson from Romans, we can still rejoice even as we struggle and suffer, because our sufferings, as tough as they are, can only help us to learn to trust in God even more. This is what it means that suffering produces perseverance: perseverance meaning that even though we may want to give up, especially give up waiting for God, we can’t do so. We have to keep waiting patiently for God to act. This then helps us become people of a certain character: people who are patient, who let God take charge, who are at peace with ourselves and others because of letting God take charge, and who hope. Hope is also a choice. God does not force anyone to trust Him, yet, when everything else we have trusted in seems to have failed, we have the comfort of knowing that there is someone we can trust who will come through for us every time, just like He always has. Hope also, as verse 5 says, does not disappoint us, because God Himself has given us the ability to love and trust Him, to hold on when everything else seems impossible, and to believe that His glory will prevail over all the other powers of this world. This is then why we say we believe in Jesus Christ, who is the only Son of God, and is our Lord, and through whom God has made it possible for His glory to prevail. He is fully God and fully human, born in a virgin birth from Mary and conceived by the power of God in a miraculous way. He suffered, died, was buried, and descended into hell, where He broke and defeated the power of hell and the devil once and for all. He then rose again and ascended into heaven, where He sits at God’s right hand in eternal victory. All of this is a reminder about who is really supreme, and who is in command of us. Jesus alone is to be our leader, and He leads us through the Holy Spirit. This is why we then state that we believe in the Holy Spirit, who is the very power of God who continues to maintain everything He has made. Jesus also says in today’s Gospel lesson that the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. This means that all the voices of fear, hopelessness, and despair which we hear, especially with everything going on, are false voices, and the voice of the Holy Spirit, who speaks God’s words of encouragement, hope, and comfort, is the voice which speaks the truth. In a world where there remains much division and hatred, we still believe in the holy Christian Church and the communion of saints, the family of God, a place where all people are loved and welcomed, and where we are unified by our being saved by Jesus. We believe in the forgiveness of sins, meaning that all of our sins are forgiven not because of anything we do, but because Jesus has earned it for us. Finally, we believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting: our destiny, where we are headed, is for eternal life. That is when we will be completely free of all the sufferings of this life and this world, because we will live with God in His Kingdom, where there will be no more suffering, illness, violence, or pain. We then end with the word, “Amen,” the ancient word which means “Yes, this is true” – everything we have said is true.

            What is our purpose? To affirm and live out courageously the truth of what we believe: that God the Father remains all-power and sovereign over all the world He created; that Jesus reigns supreme as King; and the Holy Spirit continues to make God’s will happen, especially for us. Even as God comforts us with this truth, we are also to comfort everyone, especially anyone who is on the verge of losing hope. God has never once given us a reason not to lose hope, He has never given us a reason to be disappointed, and He never will. When we want to give up, we pray instead: we pray for God to take control. When everyone else wants to tear other people down, we encourage, because we have been encouraged. When everyone else wants to insist that there is no hope, we have hope. We believe that God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is alive and here for us. Whatever has happened, whatever will happen, God will remain the one constant. Let’s continue to trust, follow, and believe in Him.

            Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Weekly Word Podcast - Full Worship Service for June 12, 2022

 

06/12/2022 Full Worship Service

Community Worship Service, Sunday, August 7, 2022

Our annual Community Worship Service will be taking place on Sunday, August 7th, at 10:00 A.M. at the Farmersville Firehouse. The Fire Association will be hosting a Chicken and Pork Chop Barbecue following the service, and FABA will be selling ice cream. Tickets for the barbecue are on sale now, and are available at the Firehouse, Jerry's Meat Market, or any FABA member. Adult dinners are $10 apiece, and children's dinners are $6. Please contact Chief Erisman at (937) 696-2863 with any questions, or to reserve tickets. Come to enjoy our time of worship and community food and fellowship together!

Sermon Text for June 5, 2022 - "We Have a Story to Tell"

 

“We Have a Story to Tell”

June 5, 2022

 

            Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

            As I’ve mentioned before, throughout my service in ministry, I have had the privilege of meeting many unique and special individuals. One in particular is a man I met while serving in north central Montana. At the time, I was serving a three point parish, meaning that I served three individual congregations, two of which were located less than ten miles from each other on the same highway, and the third was located farther to the north up near the Canadian border. The man I’m thinking of this morning was a member of that congregation, the one up near Canada. Since I had a great distance to travel between the churches each Sunday, and would often arrive at at least a couple of the churches with only minutes to spare, I would deliver the bulletins to this man and his wife during the week, and we would engage in long and meaningful conversations. Now, I should explain that this man, who went to be with the Lord just only a couple of years ago, was incredibly fervent and zealous in his faith and devotion, and was always wanting to know what to think as a Christian about certain issues – which meant we would definitely have interesting conversations. During one in particular, since the topic of the possibility of life on other planets had recently been discussed in the news, he asked me what I would do if a spaceship full of aliens suddenly landed in the fields next door to the church. Now, as it happened, I had actually, and rather randomly, already been thinking about that particular scenario, so I told him what I would do, which is what I would hope any of us would do: invite the aliens to come to worship at our church.

            Now, of course, this was many years ago – and the model for growing the church was still very much just inviting people to come to church. We continue to assume that the best way to get people to come to church is to invite them to church, and they will automatically want to come. But, especially after the pandemic, that is no longer the case. Simply inviting people to come to church is only part of what we are called to do in the present day, but more importantly, we are to go out and bring what we have to everyone.

One thing that changed during the pandemic was people’s eating habits. With restaurants either being closed to public dining or having restricted service, more and more people started to order carry-out or Doordash. In other words, since people couldn’t go to restaurants themselves to eat, restaurants had to make sure that what they had to offer could go out to where people were. And that habit still continues: more people have gotten used to carry out and eating at home. Also, even though restaurants have fully opened up again, hours during which they remain open have tended to be a bit unpredictable sometimes due to available staffing. So, again, it’s just become easier to order something and either pick it up or have it delivered – to have it go where people are. We’ve tended to think of church as being like a restaurant: we expect people to come to us, receive what we offer, then leave and come back again. However, much as with restaurants, habits have even changed with that: people aren’t just going to come to church to receive what God has to offer, because church attendance simply isn’t the priority it used to be. Instead, we are to be taking all the good things God has to offer and delivering them to where people are: rather than just being servers at one place, we have to become delivery drivers, going out to different places.

            We are also continuing to hear about the different parts of our liturgy: today, in just a few moments, after we receive Communion, we will be singing “Thank the Lord and sing his praise, tell everyone what he has done.” Like many parts of our liturgy, it is based on a Bible verse, I this case, 1 Chronicles 16:8-10. That’s also the most effective thing we can be doing in the present day – not waiting for people to come to church to hear about what God has done, but telling people ourselves, wherever we are, whatever the occasion may be, what God has done. Even more specifically, what God has done for us. Believe it or not, if something wonderful has happened to us, if we have been healed, blessed, given something unexpected, or if a member of our family or a friend of ours has experienced a special blessing, we can tell other people about it. Even though it is something we tend to keep to ourselves, God does special things for us and gives us special blessings because He wants us to tell other people about them, and about Him. I’m sure many of us have similar stories to tell: many of us have stories about how we have been healed, restored, and delivered from illness, either mental or physical; addiction; an abusive family life or relationship; a struggle with doubt. These are stories, from our experiences, we can tell other people to provide encouragement: literally, to give people courage to be able to face what lies ahead, by reinforcing the promise that God is with them and will help them in whatever they’re going through.

There is actually another word for this, one which we hear a lot from certain other Christians, but we don’t hear a lot in our own tradition: testifying. To testify to something means “to serve as evidence or proof of something’s existing or being the case.” And there are doubtless a growing number of people who are wondering if what God says is true, or if He even exists, especially when things like mass shootings and increasing threats of violence continue to rise. But, believe it or not, we are the evidence that God exists. Who we are, where we have been, where we are now, are all because God has made us, given us life, and brought us to where we are by His power. We are also the evidence that God is who He claims to be: it is because of His love that we have been saved, and have the promise of eternal life, by the death and resurrection of Jesus. But how are people going to know that God is real and His promises are real unless we tell them? In fact, in today’s Gospel reading, in John 15:27, Jesus both encourages and commands us to testify: no longer to keep what God has done for us to ourselves, but to tell other people boldly and without any hesitation. The reason the Holy Spirit has been given to us is to make us aware of how God is responsible for everything good that happens to us; and to give us the courage and power to tell the good things He does – just as He did on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit also continues to speak to us every day: He speaks to us in our hearts, frequently in words of comfort, peace, and reassurance. If we are willing to listen, He calms our fears and anxieties, and guides us in the best direction. When this happens as well, these are times to testify to the Holy Spirit’s leading, and encourage others to listen, be calmed, and trust God.

The Holy Spirit also helps us to recognize that what we once thought of as impossible divisions to overcome no longer exist, and that we are united in this call and command to testify. The story we hear in Genesis talks about the Tower of Babel, which is used to explain the origin of different languages. In the story, the people speak one language, and fall into the same trap as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden: the desire to be greater than God. So they try to build a tower to reach up to heaven, and, in order to thwart their sinful plan, the sin being trying to be God and greater than God, they are given different languages, no longer able to understand each other and thus no longer able to work together. It was also previously the case that only one group of people were to be called God’s chosen people. But on the Day of Pentecost, God now shows that all those divisions have been overcome, and we have become united again. The miracle of Pentecost is not only that the disciples were given the ability to speak in other languages, but that they were given the power and boldness to tell the great and glorious things God had done in Jesus. The speaking in other languages was to show that this good news was now no longer for one group of people, but was for every person in every country of every language. Last week I mentioned that part of our calling as Christians is no longer to emphasize what divides us, but to find and emphasize things we have in common, and seek to work together in unity and cooperation with each other. One of the many things we have in common, which unifies us, and which we can work together on, is testifying to the power and goodness of God.

In just a few minutes, we will be receiving Communion. And one of the things we wish to emphasize about Communion is that, just like the good news of God, it is available for everyone. When we receive Communion together, we are also acknowledging our common faith in Jesus as Savior, our acceptance of each other as members of God’s family. We also recognize, and accept, that we have a responsibility to care for each other; to encourage and pray for each other; to help each other grow in our relationship with God, and with each other; and to support and accept each other as we are, because that is how God accepts us. In Communion, just as at Pentecost, we recognize that, even as diverse as we are in many ways, we are still united in the most important way: by our faith in Jesus, and our calling to tell everyone what He has done. But let’s not keep it within our walls any longer – let’s take it outside, to where everyone else is. Let’s testify – make God real for everyone, and let’s tell our story, with boldness and courage.

            Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.

Weekly Word Podcast - Full Worship Service for June 5, 2022

06/05/2022 Pentecost Sunday Full Worship Service