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The Holy Spirit flowing from St. Paul’s lips this morning, is the voice and character of the New Nature. This is that seed, Christ planted within us, being reaped, revealing itself with beautiful thoughts to contemplate: “Let love be genuine, rejoice in Hope, live in harmony, live peaceably with all…” This week’s lesson and journey in discipleship school, has a lot to offer us in coming to understand just what is the lifestyle of Grace? What are the fruits of realizing and incorporating Jesus’ treatise to love one another by taking up our own cross of accountability within the world we share? I would say that the lifestyle of Grace is faith-filled living and giving beyond the self for the sake of the Gospel.
The moment I started to prayerfully take in this week’s
scriptures, is when I thought about the ages, of innocence past. The prelude we heard this morning, essentially
started to play in the “soundtrack of my mind,” in thinking about where we were
then, and where we are now, as humanity.
I never remember living in the ‘60’s, since I was born two years before
the decade ended… I was a strange generation X’er kid growing up in the ‘70’s, becoming
a Beatles’ fan, all at the age of 10. I think I drove my mother crazy playing
at least 4 to 5 albums a night as soon as I got back from school. It only got worse as the years went on, by
attending Beatlefests in Chicago, from 1983 to 2013!
An era of time, I really didn’t truly know, but thought
it was interesting taking in so much of it from collecting 45’s to collecting
photographs, mind you, not as many photos as Grace Schmeidel, but enough though. Dezo Hoffmann was known as the photographer
of the ‘60’s generation. One of his
photos of the Beatles include a picture of them with Marlena Dietrich. She was a famous actress and voice during the
second World War, and for the artist in him, she represented the same innocence
of the Beatles, being a voice for a generation.
As we know however, the ‘60’s were, as we are experiencing now, truly
turbulent and often dark times. Race
riots, anti-war protests, the missile crisis, political scandals and so on…
I don’t know why the Holy Spirit sent that song, ‘Let’s
Get Together,’ to play while I was immersing myself in study, with God’s Word…
Perhaps God was sharing a lament with me to hear spiritually. The words of the song are a prayerful plea by
the Youngbloods and the “flower-power” generation to basically get out of
Vietnam. I am grateful in some senses, my father wasn’t able to go due to
ongoing health problems, but his first cousin did. His first cousin died a young man back in
2002, leaving behind 3 children and two ex-wives. From what little I knew about him and his
story, he was never the same when he came back from that war. It was as if his transformation was a horrible
revelation of death. No one could ever
really know how he truly felt for this is something I’m sure, he only shared
with God. Who knows how many people have
suffered the same way he did and didn’t or couldn’t share it beyond God, alone?
These are spiritual notes, they are cameos of memories,
moments and discernment that we all have in some form or another. The giant tapestry they eventually weave, is
the story of our lives. Our lives can be
naturally lived in a most empirical and temporal way—what we see, touch, own
etcetera. It is what, we’re more than used to, knowing. The Gospel today, has Jesus giving Peter a
hard time again, for Peter’s response is thinking that Jesus’ mission in the
world is to be a “warrior Messiah” against Israel’s oppressor… Jesus’ actual mission, however to the
misunderstanding of His disciples, is completely spiritual and completely
selfless. Selflessness is a divine attribute that humanity can’t truly
accomplish yet alone really understand. That is why Jesus scolds him because
Peter’s thinking is one of agenda, self-preservation and of earthly battle.
In some senses, Peter sounds like Jeremiah complaining to
God, needing vengeance upon his enemies. Paul has a haunting statement I wish
the world could hear daily today: “21Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good.” I wonder though, if innocence has been truly lost and
we really don’t know or understand “goodness,” as the Gospel is seeking for us
to realize? Our judgment has become so weighed down by our own
self-righteousness and caving into Old Nature patterns for everything. The
truth is becoming lost amidst our own man-made stumbling blocks. The group, Antifa, is the antithesis of not
only the Gospel’s call to love and care for neighbor; it is an established
darkness against one another and the will of God. An eye for an eye is the oldest, Old Nature
justification for enacting evil against your neighbor. Tolerance is an easy
“Band-aid” thought and action, since the Gospel’s call for acceptance and radical
hospitality is too much for us to handle, spiritually.
The cost of discipleship has never changed its challenge
and call to us, to live Cross-shaped lives in accordance with the Gospel. Like the children, we still truly are, we
can’t fathom or want to take on the task, of being accountable willingly for
the sake of others, yet alone God. We
are our own stumbling blocks.
Transformation beckons us to die, but to the self for the New person in
Christ to emerge most amazingly. Even,
in the midst of, where we are today, glimpses of the heart’s transformation in
reaping that New Nature, can be seen. I
say this in seeing the many rescue efforts being undertaken for all effected by
Hurricane Harvey. The news had on the
other day, out of state firemen rescuing dozens of stranded animals left in
homes flooded and abandoned by their owners.
Being a cat person, I was touched to the heart, to see
these brave souls rescuing kittens and frightened cats. All of God’s creatures were affected by this
horrible storm and most assuredly were being saved by these brave people. However,
even during these beautiful rescue scenes, people were captured on the news or
documented holding terribly evil thoughts.
One university professor was recorded in saying that Texas’ brought on
the “karma” of Hurricane Harvey due to their politics… A few years back, a tele-evangelist leader
remarked something similar, in regard to Katrina and the residents of
Louisiana. He basically preached an evil message saying that the residents of
Louisiana brought upon them, the wrath of God. How could anyone harbor such
awful, evil thoughts against another, yet alone claim that God would be a party
to it?
We have had 2,000 plus years of the Gospel in our lives,
why has so little changed? What is truly something we could say is progress?
Were we truly enlightened during the era of the Enlightenment? Especially if we still cannot make enough of
an effort, to be carriers of the light of the Gospel? We need to “rally” the
spirit within us to be active in our labor for the sake of all that is good,
for the sake of love, peace, and harmony, in order that we may someday truly
rejoice in great hope. We cannot conveniently erase the past by deconstructing
or destroying it, spiritually and literally—this is the Satanic rebuke Jesus
picked on Peter for. We must learn from
the past, both its light and darkness to forge, a New world, not for the glory
and agenda of the self, but purely for and out of love for God and neighbor.
I leave you with a lovely long-term mission story of a
dear friend of mine. Ever since my
friend George was small, he has been collecting fossils, artifacts, art and books. He’s not been collecting them, just for
himself, but he plans on shipping his collections whenever he can afford to, to
a museum in his home country of Poland. This museum that he will be donating to
basically is for the families of Holocaust survivors and all that was pilfered
from Poland by the Nazis. Many of his
family members were victims… Ever since
I’ve known him, which is going on 30 years, he’s been cataloging, wrapping and
indexing thousands upon thousands of fossils, artifacts, art and books. Whenever I have been able to, just as
whenever he’s been able to, we’ve helped one another out by securing storage,
paying for mailings etc. In both instances, he has been truly a loving,
selfless friend in giving of himself for a greater cause, greater purpose.
A few years back, I decided to leave him most of my early
art from when I was a teenager into my early days in college. I plan to help him donate all of these works
to the museum, he wants to send them to, in Poland. It will be, by no means an
easy task, but I am grateful to be a part of helping him, with his mission of
giving to others. The greater message here is, no matter how big or how small;
this one solitary life of ours, truly matters to God as all lives matter… and
do make a difference in the world! One of the lines in the prelude this morning,
alludes to Christ’ return and the Glory and hope of the Gospel’s work in the
world for the better: “When the one that left us here—Returns for us at last.
We are but a moment's sunlight fading in the grass…” “Come on people, now—Smile on your brother.
Everybody get together—Try to love one another. Right now!”
If we really could carry that cross and its cost of
discipleship in our lives, perhaps we would truly know a better place? For it
would be a world built genuinely through rejoicing in hope, from a love burning
like a great fire in the heart for the truth and righteousness of God! Nothing
is impossible—that is our humanity declaring that. All things are possible through a heart
shaped by and for God’s will, mission and glory.
Let us Pray,
Gracious and Loving Lord Jesus,
There is so much darkness we need to overcome
To truly be Your enlightened ambassadors of the Gospel in
the World
Help us to remain ardent in the Spirit exampling, living
radical hospitality and acceptance to all our neighbors
May our truthful tears water and grow the New Nature
Within our hearts to transform and love genuinely You,
our neighbor and Your purposes for us all.
May we learn to walk as children of Grace and promise
with integrity, faithfulness and hope
For it is through Your love and the cross, we are shaped.
AMEN
September 3rd
2017; Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 17; Year A SOLA Lectionary
Sermon By:
Reverend Nicole A.M. Collins, OSST
Psalm 26;
Jeremiah 15:15-21; Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28
The link below is to this morning's delivery at First Congregational Church at 9:30am
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