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Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been
told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of
the Earth? That God has a plan and a purpose for you and your life and this
week's message goal is that it is service and it indeed sets us free.
Early on when I was training under Pastor Dawson, he had
this really funny saying about preparing ourselves for Parish Ministry. He
would say that the best education outside of Seminary, would be to work at the customer
service center in Kohl's Department store. And then I thought about that; what
does it means to serve behind a customer service window? Well I can imagine
there's probably lots of unpleasant times. I’m sure however, there are a lot of
moments where people understand, where you're coming from and that you
acknowledge that you know where they're coming from.
I think that sense right there of understanding, is a
lovely thing that you learn over time. It is a very freeing thing for the
spirit as well. What do I mean by freeing through serving? It's a matter of
perspective that comes from the heart that God's love shapes us to see and
experience. This perspective is not looking at it like: “oh I hate working,
it's such a chore, it's a burdensome task, it's miserable, I'd rather be home on
my hammock sipping my iced tea...” And so on. This is a perspective you
develop when you have that sense of seeing your life as both a Devotion to God
and a vocation of love and mercy to others. Just thinking Mother Teresa, that
woman was amazing she was profoundly giving of herself and so dedicated... And
from what was told of her personality she never showed that weight of
responsibility as being a burden, more than a delight because it was her
gracious response to God's love and she was in turn loving her neighbor.
This morning we will be receiving and affirming members
into our church family here. We gather
together to inspire one another to serve.
I’m sure everyone is getting their feet wet into their new board
ministry roles. We need to keep
encouraged here that there’s a lot of things we need to do but we will show the
world our mighty team spirit in getting them accomplished!
This past week I gave a talk on spiritual retreats at a
women's UCC Gathering. You probably should know by now, that my passion is in
spiritual formation. I love helping people, caring for them is freeing for me.
The one thing that's wonderful about being able to offer a retreat for a
congregation to attend, is that it is the ultimate form of service and sharing
your witness and faith through what God brings to us for hearts to grow from.
All of today's scriptures seem to have a “day-in-a-life”
note to them. We have a fantastic wonderful inspiring message from Paul telling
his Corinthian flock, “I have become all things to all people.” I think that is
the best summary of what it means to stretch yourself to be able to help
others. He continues to say that he did
this so that he may save some as well as he did it for the sake of the Gospel
so that he may share in its blessings. “Blessed to be a blessing,” was another
wonderful learning nugget I got in studying under Pastor Dawson. When you think
of that, what that means… it is a lovely affirmation and freedom of the self to
be able to give to others.
The gospel text is another scene of Jesus off and about
healing. We do hear the message of him being the great healer, the great
physician, but it is even so much more than that. When he heals Simon's
mother-in-law the fever left her, she gets up and she begins to serve them. We
may dismiss that sentence at first, but when you think of what all these texts
are gravitating to say this morning, they are talking about a wonderful Biblical
Greek word called Diakonia. Diakonia
means service.
Truth be told one of my greatest experiences before I
began Seminary was in a program of that same name. I served as well with Pastor
Dawson and the Deacon of our church at the time, on the steering committee for
that program because outside of spiritual formation, I also love education. This program, in
particular, was like a series of connected Bible study type classes that were a
little more advanced than just a Sunday study during Fellowship. These classes
were to help prepare people to seriously consider moving on to more formal Biblical
education.
We've been hearing it though as well, to be in the “know,”
in regards to being Christian, is being willing to grow. Our hearts and our
minds need to grow together to be able to see the full picture completely. We
need to see the full picture to what people need, and what we must do is our
part of helping the greater good of humanity. I love how Paul's letter begins. He
uses that wonderful word, “if.” If, is that wonderfully convenient word, that
is so conditional and is so much about our struggle. This struggle is: are we
going to look back and learn from the past? And are we going to look forward
and realize that we have all been entrusted with a commission to serve one
another out of love for God? These
things are important!
I have to admire my husband's bravery for doing the
opinion poll place every day. He has to do tons of surveys calling something
like 500 numbers and asking some personal questions from a list he has to ask
from and of course, people are very hostile about his calling. Out of maybe 500
something calls, he may get one or two surveys done in 6 hours. The few he
would finish would be from somebody who realizes it's a survey for science to
help with coming up with new medicines or improving insurance etcetera, so they
make the time. That takes a lot of New Nature to do that. I would have a very
hard time staying on the phone especially if they're asking everything about me,
about what medicines I take, what vitamins I have, and so forth. I would try to
very politely hang up on them... When you think about it though, they're
just another average person just like you or I and it's more than making a
living they have a certain comfort with helping for the cause.
Truth be told I really do love to care for people in a
spiritual care situation. I've never been able to get any kind of real
chaplaincy type position, I have only served in churches and through Visiting
Angels. But there's just something so wonderful about seeing someone and
praying over them, praying with them, sharing their Joys and concerns that's
not a burden— It's a Wonderful Joy. This past week I visited both Linda
and Dwane, who were in separate hospitals... And what was delightful to hear
from Dwane, is that they will be moving finally into a home that will be the
best place for the both of them. I am hoping to be helping them with
packing their things, as well as asking others to help with their move, since
they are not really in the condition to pack and move things for themselves.
This coming week I am not going on vacation, though it
seems that way… I will be going back to not only visit my parents, who have not
been doing well health-wise but I will be trying in desperate efforts to help
my friend to find storage for him and begin moving things... For the past
several weeks, I have had a GoFundMe campaign for him for people to help him
build funds so he won't be homeless... After 20 days, I've had one
donation. Truth be told it is going to be a lot of hard work next week. I
will be “hitting the ground running,” as they say and helping him move dozens
of boxes and things into storage. I will be helping to pay for some storage. Most
importantly, being there this week, I am hoping to raise his spirits from being
panicked and overwhelmed by this great task he has ahead of him.
Sometimes though life truly calls you to do things like
that to reach out and help even if it is a burden or it's going to be
stressful. On a lighter more humorous note, a couple of years back, my husband
& I, took in a congregant for several months when her husband died and we
could not get her into an assisted living facility... Little did we realize
that Sharon had a propensity to stay up all night long with the TV blaring on
all night long, eat almost everything in the refrigerator even old things… LOL As
well as sleep like a polar bear most of the day. After a while I was starting
to see some new gray hairs come in and my little Ben Franklin bald spot in the
front of my head seem to be growing a little more thin... but we still couldn't
find her home.... Debbie, the music minister for the Gathering North was
wonderful. She decided to take her turn in caring for Sharon. She helped Sharon
to move in with her sister Brenda. After a while of course, Sharon started to
grate on Brenda's nerves. By that time, thanks be to God, both Pastor Dawson
and myself could find her an assisted living facility that was in Chicago.
Unfortunately, she was really unhappy that it was not in the suburbs she wanted
to stay in the suburbs but there was no other place for her to go since she was
under age. Hard to believe they consider age as a factor when the person has
several chronic health issues and really can't live on their own.
It's those things that fall between the gaps that should
make us think about where we are when we think of loving service and care to
others. This goes beyond the problems with our health system, and is really, a
human problem. If we don't take the time to truly listen to people, feel
where they are, things are missed. Problems
are ignored with great indifference and the consequences are sometimes
unbearable, regrettable. When Linda was sharing with me the story of the
nurse wrapping her foot too tightly and then showing me the horrible pictures
of blue toes and a big blister that was the size of a softball on the top of
her foot… I just couldn't believe that the nurse didn't really listen to her
and kept rapping her foot tightly anyway. But then it was like when we were networking
with these various assisted living facilities for Sharon… Some the questions
they would ask where so ridiculous, it was sad. Outside of them expecting
$5,000 plus a month for someone to just stay in a small little room and have
some nursing care. They claimed that she didn't qualify simply because she
wasn't old enough or the health insurance plan wasn't exactly the right one...
What is the person supposed to do? what if my husband and I couldn't take her
in or Brenda couldn't have taken her in? Would she be homeless?
That is one of the things I have found so sad moving out
here. Of course there's homelessness in Chicago, don't get me wrong, I've seen
it. But I can't believe there's whole tent cities here north of the strip as
well as sadly, way too many silent faces and people quietly pleading for help
nearly at every major light intersection. When I was driving to my first
Seminary, which was on the south side of Chicago, I used to get off the
expressway at a really rough intersection on the border of a very bad
neighborhood and there would always be somebody panhandling. There, you were
more frightened and if you were stuck at a light and you were right next to the
person who was pleading for help but in a hostile way… I wound up, many a
times, opening the window a slither and shoving a dollar through it while
praying for the light to change soon. Here it's more of a sad thing to see, and
I really wonder, what is being done as restorative justice to reach out to
these people? To say you’re for the common good but bracket and blanket
situations that don't reach people in between the gaps you're not serving all
concerned.
All of that can be a heavy burden on someone of
compassion... but just like the beautiful hymn, we sang about the eagle lifting
us up on his wings, God Is Lifting us up as the psalmist says... It is the
great Rock and Foundation of God as our creator and loving parent, that
sustains us to be able to be free to minister to others. I can truly say,
I so profoundly identify with what Paul says in his letter. For I do feel I
have become all things to all people, and I have done it truly for the sake of
the Gospel so that I may be a blessing to others. I do feel blessed to be a
blessing here as a pastor, caregiver, bended ear and creative person.
Run in such a way that you may win it. Yes, life is a rat
race but the true prize I get, is knowing I can do something. I choose to love
my neighbor freely with what God has given me in many spiritual gifts.
Part of wading through that rat race, is recognizing evil and know how it is a
stumbling block to many things we do. Evil can be something that overtakes us
when we turn an indifferent eye to one another. Or when we claim that hell
doesn't exist or Satan is not real, or that Christ is just an anonymous mist...
Don't Lose Yourselves into the ways of the world, Live beyond them and into the
kingdom of God! It's so easy to do, it is so convenient, seems intellectually
right… but it is the furthest thing from our true purpose and commission as
freely responsible Disciples of Jesus Christ and His gospel. We must be the Good
News ambassadors of His body in this world, through Beyond this world thinking,
living.
Let us pray,
Gracious & Loving Lord Jesus
Help us to realize our potential, inner capacity to love
our neighbors
Help us realize that change and growth need to begin
Through being willingly accountable to others.
Help those lost the world see the commission you need for
them to embrace.
May we truly become all things for all people for Your Gospel’s
sake
AMEN
February 4th,
2018; Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany; Year B; SOLA Lectionary
Sermon by:
Reverend Nicole A.M. Collins
Psalm 147:1-11;
Isaiah 40:21-31; 1 Corinthians 9:16-27; Mark 1:29-39
This sermon was delivered at First Congregational Church at 9:30am
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