'The Real "Health-Wealth" Gospel;' Sermon for Sunday July 3rd, 2016 by Rev. Nicole A.M. Collins, FODM

I don't think we realize what that moment just may have been like for those disciples in today’s Gospel... It is even more ironic that Luke was not an eyewitness but captures that symbolic moment when Christ commissions the 70 into active discipleship!

More or less it seems like Jesus is talking about priorities too. Do we have or harbor good priorities in regards to our faith? Do we make discipleship a priority? Do we think of ourselves truly as Jesus disciples or are we more or less in a Sunday-only frame of mind? What makes this gospel in particular very powerful for me is just going there in my imagination and seeing Luke walking along with his fellow companion church planters St. Paul, Barnabas and others wondering how the future of the church will come together.

The same thing is happening today but in the sense that we talk about it more than we do it... Do we really go out into the streets and as that old Cursillo saying goes actually "make a friend, be a friend, and bring a friend to Christ?" A few years back when I was doing field Ed at a church in Joliet, the pastor had us go out and give bulletins like brochures to various people in the neighborhood as well as congregants who have not been at church for a while. Actually this proved to be a good process as well as an interesting one too. I don't know how many other people just simply more or less just drop something in the mail.  This was a wonderful way to reconnect personally and authentically with people.

“Make a friend, be a friend, bring a friend to Christ ...” Remembering that statement goes back to those very fond memories of when I made my first Cursillo retreat. I can almost remember how the person who gave that talk said it like she needed a small megaphone proclaiming it to everyone in the room! It was quite amazing. It motivated my spirits so much that I could see very clearly that brand new path the Lord was definitely and would definitely point to, proving to be an exciting journey into Ministry!  I'm sure that both the Gospel and in Paul's letter to the Galatians there is some excitement to hear about this wonderfully positive encouragement to spiritually incorporate for those seeking truly to be led and fed in developing their faith.

Keeping positive and motivated can be a challenging thing especially when you are engaged in active Ministry. I was recently challenged this past week in hoping for mutual accountability with those I've been serving with. Yes, we are all human but I have hoped for a while now that this person would take their call seriously. There's a point as you see in the Gospel where are you at a Crossroads—one where your priorities need to be in serving and caring for others. Jesus commands the disciples in many senses to take a good long look at every single step that they take, discern.

We all can go there and say and probably be justified in saying that we have, on occasion, too much on our plate... our hearts are heavy and we are very burdened with many things.  But we must go there we must persevere this journey and it takes some time for introspection to develop a true sense of where you are, who you are as a person of faith—disciple of Jesus. 

One of the things that St. Paul alludes to in the letter is that he was someone who exhibited the stigmata. The Stigmata sounds almost surrealistic to us because it is such a fantastically bizarre manifestation to take over the body. In many ways it is a profound and bizarre manifestation of faith in the physical flesh itself. Talk about someone who truly did roll up his sleeves get his hands dirty in the work of Christ Jesus and his gospel! Practicing What You Preach is a matter of faith it is truly a building block of your heart's journey with God.

The “health wealth” gospel people preach a Christ who acts more or less like a vending machine of Grace lavished over us as we sit back and we merely "prosper."  In some ways their gospel seems to preach to the Wasteland of people sitting and staring at a TV screen while things go idly by. Truth be told however the genuine Gospel, the Sovereign truth in the Living Word of God, teaches us something quite the contrary.  We need to roll up those sleeves and get our hands and feet engaged but it starts in that first church, the heart.

The heart is an amazing vessel something that should prove to you right there, the profound power of God in how this strange little muscle moves and relates without or consciously thinking for it to operate. On that same note the other operation the heart is in charge of is developing that relationship with the Sovereign God in loving our neighbor as we truly are and commissioned to be.

You've heard that saying before—“having the heart to do something?” I don't have the heart to do it can be something that is a deep Secret in your soul or can manifest itself in how little you truly commit to what you do and say on the Gospel's behalf...   The spiritual aspect of the heart which is that first church and the most important church that the Holy Spirit needs to work in and through us for the common good and goal of the Gospel— is our responsibility to nurture,  take seriously.

The freedom Paul talks about is the gift from the new nature which now releases from what the Evil One binds us to as well as what the world binds us to. That bondage creates a wasteland where the heart doesn't feel a reason or understand its purpose in moving forward in producing works of faith.... As we know there is so much going on in the world these days our minds are weighed down with despair at times. Survival doesn't seem to be something about the creative expression of the joy of creation as it once was but now seem to be more like an ugly and brutal reality.

Jesus lectures the disciples almost like a course instructor in discipleship. It's not only as mentioned, a matter of prioritizing but in some ways to tune into focus where they need to be and become, as wonderfully created vessels of the Gospel for the Lord.

That Cursillo talk I mentioned was just one of many on that very special weekend literally a little over 12 years ago that missional number 12... It was also that weekend I heard a female mentor say that Grace was like dust in the air. I will remember her saying that always because it was such a beautifully powerful personal Witness to God working in her life through her Ministry. The other woman who talked about discipleship and making a friend, being a friend and bringing them to Christ, her journey was amazing in how God guided her path. She is now an Episcopal Priest.  In some ways she, just like myself, took a few years to then make the commitment to take the grand leap to go to Seminary. Her daddy was a pastor my husband's daddy is a pastor incidental only, but everyone in our lives’ Journey has something to lend to that walk. It's been more than a couple of years since I last served a Cursillo retreat; I really do miss them greatly. But I know that, that initial instruction or "little course" as the word Cursillo actually means, motivated me to step beyond myself and truly serve as I am beginning to do today.

At the moment in what I have been doing— I do feel like Luke and the other followers from that early church.... I have been engaged in some wonderful, but fairly challenging Ministries. I have planted a house church as well as I have helped plant two physical Church plants one of which now I'm serving as their spiritual formation pastor. It is all volunteer but I know what that feels like to "make a friend, be a friend and bring someone to Christ"—grow into discipleship! The next Leg of my journey I am greatly looking forward to.  It is my hope to serve an established faith Community with all that my faith Journey has taught my heart to bear, and I can only hope that Christ Jesus Gospel instructs others to see where they could go and what they could bring to the world for a greater purpose!

So you see that the “health” is in the heart where God's Grace & Holy Spirit build a firm foundation of freedom and responsibility. The “wealth” part of that is in knowing the love that you share coming from a heart filled and discipled by faith, is opening the door to the kingdom of God!

This is the only “health wealth” gospel I would be preaching and teaching. I hope to be truly a nurturing and compassionate guide to those seeking to express what faith is for them.  Paul in today's letter is doing just that, he is instructing the Galatians that his journey was definitely indeed very real for him (in more ways than one) and they need to look beyond what they been doing and make it very real for themselves as well.

Life is a long road but it doesn't have to be a lonely one as well as a pointless one.  The beauty of harboring and persevering faith is that it builds that hope and optimism that we need to then see the abundance and meaning God gives us in everything that is around us. This is the beauty of realizing the reality of Grace all around you and living into it too!

Let us pray,
Most Gracious and Loving Father
We thank you for everything that you teach our hearts to grow and go with.

May we truly come to realize what we must do and become
May we do it joyfully through that beautiful Grace which surrounds each and everyone of us.
In your most holy and precious name we praise you and Thank you, Amen

July 3rd, 2016; Seventh Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 9; Year C; SOLA Lectionary

Sermon by Reverend Nicole A.M. Collins, FODM

Psalm 66:1-7; Isaiah 66:10-14;  Galatians 6:1-10, 14-18; Luke 10:1-20

This sermon was delivered at a special Thursday evening vespers at the Grace Hub's house church
https://youtu.be/Yr66hDH2vxI