Posts
“Watch
the mountain turn to dust and blow away
Oh,
Lord, you know there's got to be a better way
And the
old masquerade
Is a no
soul parade
Marchin'
through the ruins of time—…”
This
stanza I just read is from a wonderful old “Flower-Power” ‘60’s song by Tommy
James and the Shondells called ‘Sweet Cherry Wine.’ It’s really one of those reactionary songs
written against the Vietnam War but I experienced another layer in hearing it
as a beautiful song about both being human & our struggling faith journey
with God. In elaboration of “a matter of
faith,” we must truly be aware of ourselves as children of Grace, children of
promise. This takes humility and being accountable.
Living
into being a child of Grace & promise is really and truthfully about being
accountable. It is living as a freely responsible servant of Christ. Which leaves me to ask: Are you accountable
not only to God, but truly to others as we are all broken, earthen vessels? We
are weak, but as St. Paul says—in realizing our humanity through a humble heart
shaped by God—we can see and utilize the power of God to CHANGE—a faith to move
mountains, to stir up the dust, to gather the faithful and embody the true
power of faith—LOVE.
Not too
much unlike the stanza I started with from the Tommy James & the Shondells’
song—we can move mountains of obstacles out of our way, rendering them to dust…
in order to serve God and love neighbor...
All that we have is from the Lord—the sovereign King of Grace who set us
free from sin, death and the power of evil.
“And the Old masquerade” of the Evil One’s empty promises will hold no
weight any longer on our spiritual formation to live in Grace, and for Grace—as
we are so blessed by the Lord and all He has given us!
The
only parade we should be standing in, walking forward in is the Gospel’s, for
the sake and future of the Gospel. We
must always know that while we are both ‘aspiring saint’ and sinner, we can carry
on our commission, our mission to serve the Lord. We are currently “marchin’ through” terrible
times of wide-spread global persecution, unrest, grave evil and sadness—But do
we give up and allow Satan’s current rising to triumph? No, we must live in
remembrance, in example of Christ—what He gave us. At that table, His blood was the sweet wine
of promise, given to those disciples—ordinary men & women, who drank into
their hearts a New and glorious HOPE.
The hope of the resurrection formed a New Body in the world—The Body of
Christ—disciples of Jesus, here and now!
We
could almost hear Jesus calling out to us:
“C'mon,
everyone, we got to get together now
Oh,
yeah, love's the only thing that matters anyhow
And the
beauty of life
Can
only survive
If we
love one another”
This is
actually the first stanza of the Tommy James and the Shondells’ song but not
too unlike the Psalmist, it is a voice gathering people together to realize
their purpose in life to serve God and neighbor. This can only be accomplished through Love
which is what Christ Jesus taught us, exampled for us… Not to be “perfect” in the worldly sense of
it at all, but be perfected in all humility to whose they are and where they
need to go for the sake of the Gospel!
So much
has happened over the past several weeks right here in America and around the world. It is hard to not let the negativity of it
all become overwhelming… For what can we really do? This is our human nature speaking: What can I
really do? Where to start is from within—this has been Jesus’ message from the
beginning of His ministry in the world but definitely not of it! Truth be told, we rebel against the very
notion of change! We rebel against the vulnerability of developing spiritual
knowledge which is heart-knowledge—transformation.
St.
Paul acknowledges this rebellion for we are of flesh and we are of spirit. This
spirit within can be shaped for the Gospel or be a destructive tool or resource
for evil. It is up to us to lift our hearts to God to willingly and joyfully be
renewed. There is a beautiful sense of freedom, when we do realize where we are
and whose we are—this is always beyond the self and for the other, period.
This
very weekend is the 4th of July weekend for all Americans who cherish
freedom… Freedom is another word that
encapsulates a Pandora’s box of meanings to it.
Just the past several days the media has been growing that human fear factor
that ISIS and other extremists are planning several attacks on the 4th
of July just to murder, martyr and condemn the notion of freedom. The evil here is simple, the love of power to
control and eliminate have been made into a religious, fundamentalist ideology
to render the world into peril—chaos.
Other
examples of evil against “freedom” in the world currently come in the forms of
racism and intolerance through fire.
Fire to burn down the churches of God and a fire of words to fuel hatred,
non-acceptance and misunderstandings. This is just reaping a graceless
wilderness contrary to God and defiant against Him.
The
Evil One’s victory is in our denial of our human failings which burgeon forth
greed and indifference resulting in death.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust—Yes, We will all return to the earth, but
the spirit within us will carry on with the Lord—the one true God; Jesus
Christ. It is the spirit within us that must be open by and for the Lord. Why
do I choose to believe? Why do I have faith? Why do I even still hold on to
that painful Hope?! I am confident in the Grace continually given. It has put more than a deep peace in my heart
but a deep trust to leave this into God’s hands—for His plans for me are yet to
be completely realized. People will only see you as you are. This is the inward struggle to change, to
transform for both God and out of love for neighbor.
We are
in the middle of two wars right now. The
first war being literally with false prophet soldiers murdering, raping and
plundering at will throughout the Middle East abroad and the second war is the greater
one. This war is the one within our
hearts to live into faith—Grace, Love, Promise & Hope. Sin, death and destruction are empty
promises, devoid of hope, unchanging withering away the beauty of the Gift of
life, the gift of Grace so freely sown!
While
many are marching on the 4th in various parades to celebrate what
this country is to represent, which is freedom… We must not lose sight to the
other battle we are either marching in or deriding. The New Nature was sown into our hearts by
the Grace of God—Jesus Christ, our Crucified Lord and Savior—a God who came
down to us—fully human, fully divine and saved us in more ways than one! Reap
what has been sown. Be love, grace, peace, mercy, acceptance and hope to one
another. Being and becoming are a life time’s
journey and goal—the Gospel’s imperative is clear.
Let us
take hope in the future that we can overcome our sense of failings and triumph
for the Gospel—trampling Satan under foot.
Let us
Pray—
Gracious
and Loving God,
Help us
to rebel against Satan, and not You
Shape
our hearts to realize Your saving Grace
In the
bounty of our lives
With
the Holy Spirit’s help, may we reap the beautiful fruits of the Kingdom of God
Which
is the power of love, grace, peace, mercy, acceptance and hope
Lived
through our broken but mendable, transformative vessels
AMEN
July 5th, 2015; 6th Sunday after
Pentecost; Proper 9; Year B; SOLA Lectionary
Sermon by Reverend Nicole A.M.
Collins
Psalm 123; Ezekiel 2:1-5; 2
Corinthians 12:1-10 & Mark 6:1-13
No comments:
Post a Comment