"Grounded;" Sermon for February 1st, 2015 By: Rev. Nicole A.M. Collins

The Psalmist’s words begin to shape that modeled role of servant leadership: “¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.” What other adjectives could we consider placing in the place of fear? As disciples of Jesus perhaps we could understand this as Grace.

The Grace of the Lord is the beginning of a different kind of wisdom (heart knowledge).  All who truly and truthfully live into it glean in God’s good timing, an understanding and a shaping.  This shaping is God’s Grace transforming you to be and become a faithful, faith-filled steward to God’s Word and Will and never your own agenda.  Your life begins to infuse with the beauty and practice of living into the Life style of Grace.

I have been blessed this past week in “hitting the ground running,” so to speak. For I have been ministering to help a parishioner in the midst of a series of tragic circumstances beyond her control. There is only so much anyone of us can do but God says to us to never say never; just DO & BE for others.  This has fueled the fire of compassion needed for me to begin to truly and truthfully minister to someone.

Your life lived not as your own but that of God’s, IS prophecy.  It is the servant leader, Jesus tried to carefully example for his disciples to discern in their hearts first before acting through their hands and feet. Being in a polarized world where the Evil One’s reign has established a firm foundation in the “church world…” It was interesting to get a nasty Facebook message, the other day, from a pastor rebuking and chiding me for saying that politics do not belong in ministry.  He basically told me that his ministry is to cater to his political agenda.  What he neglected to leave out is precisely what he leaves out period: the Gospel!

Leadership as a disciple of Jesus, as modeled by the Lord himself and His faithful servant Paul in today’s texts is not to be of the world, but cater and serve a godly purpose period. True selfless leadership never uses the word agenda, yet alone I, Me and mine.  The Evil One’s work however through a worldly wisdom has had some see ministry as grounded in the self.  The Gospel and Grace of Jesus becomes merely a “phantom ideology” on the back burner to the ego for those more concerned with doctrinal human laws and cultural fads.

We need to look upon our lives as a continual construction project.  For me it recalls one of my favorite movies which ironically will be taking place on Monday: Groundhog Day. Groundhog Day is that now 22 year old classic that has Bill Murray’s character reliving the same day over and over till he truly and truthfully begins to be changed. He begins to have an “Epiphany” of renewed purpose and vision for his life lived for others.

Many of us can look into the novels of our lives lived thus far and wonder: how did I get here?  Was it grounded in, with and through God for the love of God and the love of neighbor? Hearing the Lord and allowing Him to shape our conscience is not an easy process it takes a lot of trust; holding back the fear and vice the Evil One places in our paths to be stumbling blocks to truly and truthfully becoming servant leaders through and for the Gospel of Grace!

Living into the Gospel of Grace means not catering into graceless behavior… but we still stumble over it as well as are challenged to grow from it ourselves.  I left my retort to this pastor up on my Facebook page to make a point hopefully beyond myself about the notion of priority in ministry.  It probably seems graceless of me to leave it there but perhaps it could be looked upon as a hindrance to the graceless message of intolerance, narcissism and political agenda that this pastor’s message was towards me.

You have probably heard these two Words like an echo in my sermon thus far: Truly and Truthfully.  Why am I drawn to using this often in consideration and discernment of today’s texts? Truly—what is truth, do we live into being true to ourselves as children of God, children of Grace?  Truthfully—putting on aires or being a phantom representative of the “office” of ministry is just like what St. Paul says to the Corinthians about being “puffed up…”  Living into Grace, True prophetic discipleship is truthfully taking on a selfless, virtue representing all the beautiful fruits Jesus has taught us to try to realize in his Be(the) Attitude(s).

We will find ourselves during the many pages of our lives’ stories stumbling and resisting much like the character Phil Connors in ‘Groundhog Day,’ where we are stuck in a dead end of our own devices with seemingly no resolve, re-living it daily as painful reminder.... That is what places us in bondage spiritually.  If we are un-willing to truly and truthfully trust in God for the next steps of the journey to move forward as disciples of Grace; how could we break the cycle?  “Church” is a living organic creature; it really has little to do at all with walls & shaded windows…  Spiritually however, even there, we put up walls and see through dimly shaded, colored lens of our own divisiveness as members of the priesthood of all believers.

The parishioner I have been ministering to said something really sweet the other day about being a witness and doing ministry herself.  She basically said how many have perhaps unfortunately viewed “doing” ministry: “You are the pastor, you went to school for it; what can I really do?” I told her that her life’s story is what truly and truthfully ministers to others; it goes way beyond titles, training & offices….  I told her in many ways her faith has been a beautiful witness to my living truly and truthfully in service to others! When we are all together as a church family; it is our witnesses to each other that DO ministry.

I’m not running for an office yet alone catering into recapitulating the “school of Athens for Jesus… accolades,” I am here as we are all here to live in, with and through the Living Word of God—the Gospel of Grace—Jesus Christ! Discipleship is a journey that doesn’t have a crystal ball to look into the future and know God’s plans…  It’s living into a humbling trust that crushes the stumbling blocks of the Evil One’s efforts within the journey of your life.

Speaking for myself, I have no idea where the journey will lead to next but I DO know truly and truthfully who leads and shapes me. The days and the hours, the weeks and the weather will keep moving forward; it is upon my heart to HEAR the Lord and truly and truthfully be His disciple, here and now, the best I can for His Kingdom’s sake.

We can think of our lives as books on a shelf, with finite edges, hidden pages or we can open that book, tear out those pages and use them.  This brings me to think about my friend’s church in the city and their current struggles being in transition to finding a new pastor. Essentially who they have at the moment as interim, is a former business manager who is engaged in reading manual after manual in how to lead a transitional congregation.  She even has the congregation reading these “self-help” books.  Not one of these books addresses “truly and truthfully” what leadership is supposed to BE.  It caters simply to structure, “profession,” separation and segregation the “church” has become to the detriment of the Gospel, plain and simple!

We need to hear the Law at this point in order to understand Grace: “¹⁸I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. ¹⁹Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. ²⁰But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.”

Hearing this spiritually in the here and now through the Gospel of Grace: Be and become truly and truthfully accountable to serve and love God.  Be and become shaped by witnessing to God’s work active in your life in service to others. Don’t profess but Confess, don’t state but deliver—proclaim… Doing otherwise is the death of the Gospel.

Amen

February 1st, 2015; 4th Sunday after the Epiphany; Year B; SOLA Lectionary; 

By: Rev. Nicole A.M. Collins

Psalm 111; Deuteronomy 18:15-20;  1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28

http://youtu.be/f98FRz_YiQQ

"Living into the 'E' word;" Sermon for January 25th, 2015 by Rev. Nicole A.M. Collins

The notion of evangelical has gotten a bad rap in many areas of the faith world. This is especially true in how the faith world has become too much about the world and its’ “kingdom…” over and above the Kingdom of God. Which leaves us to begin to reflect upon; what IS the Kingdom of God? A myriad of labels have arisen categorizing, chastising and alienating those who may perhaps just merely want to, in the purest form… BE an evangelist for the Love of God and Neighbor thus living into the truth and purpose of the Kingdom of God!

The snippet from Jonah is “post-whale,” which you have to imagine the many things that were racing through his mind about the whole affair… God heard my prayer, I repented in at first not really taking that call from him seriously and now I am going to truly live into that calling and DO his bidding!  This is believing in something that goes beyond the ways of the world and its self-concerned perspective.  This IS what being Evangelical truly and truthfully means!

If I “believed” in limited, judgmental labels from the world, I would be merely a second career, 46 year old Sicilian Lutheran pastor who’s “conservative with a twist,” who’s Biblical over doctrinal and so on and so forth… as I go forward one week later after my ordination shared with friends and family last Saturday. Some people may call me a heretic for merely being a female…  Why should the ways of the world interfere with the mission of Christ, the task at hand I ask?  For some it does… unfortunately, for some it is their entire “ministry(!)” For whom does it really serve however, that is the question ...

Unfortunately we don’t live towards trusting in God’s sovereignty yet alone His sense of timing, ways and means.  The Evil One has helped to allow the gospel of “the Great man” theory to take over the mission and function of being “church,” in the world today. In regards to the 19^th century, instead of it being a true era of “enlightenment,” it became the birth of a movement towards the godless and the self-oriented manifesto catering to the ego and to the world.

As presented in Wikipedia the “Great Man theory” is a 19th-century idea according to which history can be largely explained by the impact of "great men", or heroes: highly influential individuals who, due to either their personal charisma, intelligence, wisdom, or political skill utilized their power in a way that had a decisive historical impact.

Boy that does sound very attractive to the Old Nature doesn’t it?  The world revolving and evolving around/ from and for the self! Yikes… Where’s God?  Why is He taking a backseat here? I’m sorry but being “progressive” for the kingdom of the world is not only intellectual idolatry but feeding into the graceless wilderness in which there is no light and really no presence of God at all!

Come and follow me were Jesus’ Words to a bunch of fishermen who actually listened and became His disciples! Think about it for a moment, If He would’ve tried this first on the Pharisees, what kind of response “success” would He have had? Maybe a small few, carefully coming in the “dark of night” to meet Jesus and say a “secret” yes!  Being Evangelical is being a bold witness to live teetering upon that radical edge of motivation and obedience.  To whom are you obedient to? Who rules your heart and motivations? What drives you from within the Gospel of Jesus to be an active minister within the priesthood of all believers? Speaking for myself, it is to love neighbor—BE truly and truthfully a faith-filled, compassionate Pastor to someone in need!

The discipleship journey is always going to change, as well as God is always going to be working through Grace in your lives transforming that life-long path, that life-long journey.  Last Saturday was a spiritual plateau for me, and the journey and challenge the Lord has given me to truly and truthfully BE obedient to.  Just like the close of a Cursillo weekend however, that mountain top view includes new terrain you have yet to cross, bear, for the sake of the Good News!

This past Thursday Phil & I went out to Las Vegas, also known as “sin city…” for a potential joint job opportunity at a retirement community.  The benefits, the money, the weather, free housing, healthcare etcetera and so forth were highly attractive!  However after seriously sitting down and talking with the people there about what we would actually be doing, unfortunately had too little to do with ministering to people more than making money.  Welcome to the ways of the world, we have to survive…but what about surviving through doing truly and truthfully ministry??

The world is hostile to the disciple in more ways than one.  You either have to become an “indoctrinated professional,” or sit back and spin your wheels hoping for just the “right thing” to somewhere down the line come through. I have met people in both categories for even I spent 20 some years dreaming as an artist… God however, all along has “painted” those next steps and my heart has been obediently shaped and is now genuinely ready & motivated to take that bold leap forward!

Living into that bold leap forward is being aware of the sovereignty of Grace active in the shaping of your heart knowledge and then utilized in response through the hands and feet.  Humility is the cornerstone of the disciple—it is developed profoundly out of a deeply planted love—faith God’s Grace has afforded us! Humility is obedient to God’s sense of time also known as Kairos time.  Our human nature and the world has lived into and justified over and above God, Chronos time.  Chronos is the fixed, limited, moment of time that is not only NOT timeless, but ends.  Everything concerning this sense of time you could say revolves around finitude… What about the Spirit? As Disciples of Christ Jesus, are we truly and truthfully obedient to the Holy Spirit? Do we allow the voice of Grace to speak and transform us?

The “Sin City” people of St. Paul’s evangelist travels were the Corinthians.  It would be lovely to imagine Paul delivering his address to them at various points of his pastoral concerns to them… You have to wonder at what points in the letters was he nearly yelling at them to straighten up and fly right?  The snippet shared this Sunday has St. Paul in an instructional mode basically asking them where their priorities are—are they centered in Christ and living for the Kingdom of God or for the kingdom of the world? The presence of Grace—God actively working in their lives needed to be taken seriously.

Living faithfully and boldly into our discipleship call needs to be seen through the Kingdom of God’s perspective, not our own.  For when we have so brazenly declared ourselves righteous warriors for the kingdom of the world and its agendas we become, to use the language of the world: socialists, politicians, self-oriented activists and the like…  Writing our own gospel that does not dare touch the Holy Spirit with a ten-foot pole yet alone the true meaning of GRACE!

The net the evangelists are to use is never to become an imprisonment of ego-driven, exclusionary, doctrinal correctness.  It is supposed to be and construct—connect us to a loving and gracious atmosphere where Christ IS the bright light burning deeply in unity as a community going forth as bold witnesses together!

A few months back I was truly saddened to hear the ironically-made insignificant blip of the media saying that ISIS destroyed, of what was thought to be the tomb of Jonah.  Being delivered as a passing ticker-tape message on the bottom of the TV screen was truly, spiritually disturbing…  For few people know, except maybe those who’ve enjoyed the history channel’s specials, that Jonah and the story of the whale was a big, symbolic aspect to the early persecuted, Christian disciples.  In fact, the early catacomb tombs or ossuaries of these early Christians were marked with the secret seal of a whale and Jonah inside.

From what I remember of that History Channel special, it was sad to see that currently hundreds of apartment buildings now sit on top of many of these ancient tombs.  Buried away by time and worldly purposes perhaps… but in metaphorically thinking for a moment about these buried tombs, buried symbols, buried FAITH—you really cannot escape the presence of God knowing everything you try to run away from, every evil you commit and every graceless behavior you impart for your own preservation!

Speaking as an “Evangelical,” Pandora’s box way beyond expanded and aside; I really don’t want to live in a graceless, godless wilderness where there IS no light, purpose or meaning to strive for…  This is death and I want to LIVE, be and become one of many lights in the world BUT not of the world for Jesus Christ and His righteousness!

AMEN

January 25^th, 2015; 3^rd Sunday after Epiphany; Year B; SOLA Lectionary; 

Rev. Nicole A.M. Collins

Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62; 1 Corinthians 7:29-35; Mark 1:14-20

http://youtu.be/z63GKxJz4YU

"My First Witness as a Pastor" by Rev. Nicole A.M. Collins

"The recorded message was done taking on what I like to call, the “Dawson Challenge.” The past six years of mentoring under Pastor Eric he always tried to get me to preach without notes…  Sometimes I could manage to preach down to a set of index cards with a few bullet points but I really didn’t feel comfortable with that much at all.  I then went back into completely composing them but then found a perfect rhythm of using my voice recorder to sketch out ideas earlier in the week. 

For him, I still wasn’t expressing my true spiritual sketch of the texts.  I am still trying to find a happy medium between the two but for this evening, the day after my ordination I have to agree with him that I needed to just speak and let the Spirit do the rest.

So~ here is my first witness composed completely by the Spirit, no paper, no notes!

I share as we all need to share our witness to Christ working in our lives to live for His Gospel of Grace."

Peace,

Rev. Nicole Collins

Spiritual Formation Pastor

for the Gathering North church plant

http://youtu.be/nsaLTAoODbA