“Inseparable Jesus”
August 13, 2023
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
I talked a couple of weeks ago about all the other businesses and organizations we have here in our village, many of which offer various goods and services. What makes us unique as a church family, though, is that everything we have, we offer free of charge. You can go get a good meal at any of the restaurants here in town – but you still have to pay for it. You can get gas at Sunoco, especially if you need some before heading out of town – but you still have to pay for it. You can even still get flowers and plants for your gardens at Brubaker’s, but guess what – you still have to pay for them.
But in today’s First Reading, God, speaking through the Prophet Isaiah, promises that what He has to offer, He gives us freely, without us having to pay for it. He says, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!” He gives His love, forgiveness, mercy, care, and compassion to each of us unconditionally, without us having to earn it or prove ourselves worthy of receiving it. Because Jesus died on the cross and rose again, He has made it possible for God to give us everything free of charge. And, God also never runs out of His gifts: He is limitless in what He offers, and He causes everything to multiply to each of us, and everyone.
In today’s Gospel Reading, we hear such an example, about the miracle of Jesus being able to feed at least five thousand people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. But there’s more to the story, which we need to hear today: Jesus telling His disciples, “You give them something to eat.” Especially since, as we’ve heard before, it’s time to get back to our mission and calling as a church family after having gone through the pandemic and its effects, we are to hear the words of Jesus, “You give them something to eat.” Even though we may think we’re limited in terms of our material resources, there are actually many spiritual gifts which, as individual Christians, and as a church family, we have been given by God to give to others. And, these are special gifts, because they are gifts for ministry. Not just pastors, but all of us who are part of our church family, as well as all believers in Jesus, share in the same ministry, and are free to share the same gifts with all people freely.
1. Fellowship. Fellowship is providing times and places for us to get together to gather for fun, and especially food, and be able to support each other, as friends and family members. It’s also an informal time for people, especially new friends, to be able to get to know us and enjoy time together. Fellowship also doesn’t have to have an agenda attached, in other words, we don’t have to get together just to try to attract people or gain new members, but simply to form relationships and friendships.
2. Listening. Listening comes out of fellowship, because as we are able to build relationships and friendships with each other, we are able to trust each other, and open up our hearts and feelings to each other. Which means we can listen to each other, and even to other people, even strangers. But here’s the key, and probably the opposite of what we’d expect: we listen not to try to persuade, or even to convert. What happens in people’s hearts and minds is entirely up to God, and does not in any way depend on our own powers of persuasion. We also do not listen to try to fix, solve, or even save, but to be able to let people know that they are heard – and often times, all someone needs is just be know that they are being heard, that someone is willing to listen to them, and comfort them by letting them know someone is there willing to validate them, to take them seriously by hearing what they have to say. Instead, what we can offer is a listening ear, which is willing to hear unconditionally anything anyone has to say. We can offer open ears to hear the deepest worries, frustrations, anxieties. Even though sometimes we may be uncomfortable in doing so, we can also listen to people’s struggles, where they’ve been, what they’re dealing with, and what they’re battling. We may also not even need to respond: often times just letting someone talk, without us needing to say anything or offer any advice can be comfort enough.
3. Prayer. When we listen, and are able to hear what people need, we can pray for them. Some of the most meaningful and powerful moments are when we pray with someone right in that moment. Prayer also has power, and does work. There is much that can be accomplished through prayer – not anything we do, but everything God does. But we also have to remember that prayer is not us somehow conjuring up God’s power, as a magic spell, but instead giving up everything we are praying for over to God’s power; we are releasing our own control and giving control over to God. Here’s another little secret I’ll let you all know: especially since I’ve been here, some of the times I’ve greatly enjoyed have been when I’ve been able to pray for people in unexpected situations. I’ve even prayed with people at the Village Inn at least a few times over the last few years, for example; and I’ve also had rewarding times of being able to pray with complete strangers. And the ultimate purpose of prayer is to provide comfort and encouragement, especially through the promise of God taking charge of things. Another way to do this is:
4. Comfort and Encouragement from God’s Word. The Bible is to be used, and, especially in this day and age, only to be used, to show God’s love, care, and concern for anyone in any situation. It’s also helpful to have a “reserve” of our favorite Bible verses to be able to tell others, especially any we’ve found to be particularly comforting and encouraging for us ourselves. One of my personal favorites is actually today’s Second Reading from Romans. As many of you have probably witnessed over the years I’ve been here, it’s also been one of my main “go-to” passages for funerals. Even though verse 36 usually gets left out of the funeral readings, it’s a reminder that death is inevitable, and we live in a world where disaster happens, as we’ve been seeing in Maui on the news the last few days with the wildfires there. But we also have the promise that nothing, even anything else which may seem powerful to us, can separate us from God’s love, or keep Him from working His power to show His love and care to us. In other words, nothing can keep God from accomplishing His purposes for us, especially the good He wants for us. Even though our lives may get out of control sometimes, God is always there to take control, and nothing can stop Him from doing so. This is comfort we have, which we can give to others.
5. Sacraments. Finally, another source of comfort and encouragement which we can offer freely comes from the Sacraments. We know that the Sacraments are Baptism and Holy Communion, but we also need to remember they are gifts of God’s love we give to others just as they are given to us. In Baptism, we are given the promise that we are each beloved children of God, and, again, as we are reminded in Romans, nothing can take that away from us. In Communion, Jesus is really present with us, and gives us His body and blood to eat and drink, to fill us with His power, strengthen our faith and trust in Him, and remind us that He is with us and nothing can separate us from Him. He is inseparable from the bread and wine in Communion, because the bread and wine are His true body and blood; and He is inseparable from us because nothing can make Him stop loving us. I’ll also let you in on yet another little secret: some of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in ministry so far have been to be able to baptize and give Communion to other Christians of many backgrounds and traditions. Also, I make it a point never to charge for the Sacraments, either for Baptism or Communion, in keeping, once again, with the promise God makes in today’s reading from Isaiah, that all of His good gifts, He offers freely. And, because of my own personal approach, as well as the association to which our church family belongs, I am free to offer Baptism and Communion unconditionally to every Christian who desires them, regardless of background or tradition – and I actively look forward to and seek out those opportunities to reach out to people outside of my tradition with the Sacraments. One of several examples is, many years ago, I officiated a wedding for a certain couple in Southern California. A few months later, out of the blue, I was contacted by the bride, who told me that she and the groom had had a fight, and the groom up and moved out. She was, of course, incredibly distraught and confused. I stopped by the bride’s apartment that evening, listened to what had happened, encouraged her not to give up or lose hope that her marriage could be salvaged, prayed with her, and gave her Communion. The reason I gave her Communion was to let her know in a real, visible way that Jesus was with her. This gave her renewed comfort and encouragement from God, and resolve to be able to face the battles ahead. As we will be doing in just a few minutes, we will also hear that same promise: Jesus is with us. Also, at any time we may be struggling, frustrated, or ready to give up, we can go back to the promises God made to us at our Baptism: we are His children, He is always there for us, and He loves us. We need to receive the gifts from God just as much as we are to give them – because how can we give what we don’t realize we have, and enjoy ourselves just as much as we want others to enjoy them? That is why I encourage all of you, when you come to receive Communion, believe that God loves you personally. He loves you so much He sent His Son to die on the cross and rise again for you, and He is always with you to support, encourage, and sustain you at every moment of every day. He loves and accepts you unconditionally, is always there to listen to you, and speaks words of comfort to you.
You all will also probably have noticed that there’s one common thing between everything we’ve just been talking about: our calling as Christians is to provide comfort and encouragement freely. Especially in this day and age, that ought to be our message, and our approach: God’s love, open heart, open ears, and open hands for all people. Everything we do, we are to do in the name of Jesus – Jesus is to be inseparable, and the real reason, we do everything we do. Even the little things we do in Jesus’ name will have more of an enormous impact for people than we can possibly imagine. And, if we offer them freely and unconditionally to everyone, on behalf of Jesus, then Jesus will bless our efforts, increase our gifts and our ability to give, and will cause things to happen because of our giving. We will be able to grow spiritually ourselves, and as a church family, if we give freely, as we have been freely given. So let’s continue to fellowship and welcome together, listen, pray, speak God’s comforting Word, and give His promises to everyone, so we can be blessed as we are blessings.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
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