Scripture: Romans 12:3-16

It was 2006 and the house we were living in had a small back porch.   As spring turned into summer, we found a small bench that we bought to put back there.  It came from Wal-Mart, so it was a piece of flat box furniture, which means it comes in a flat box and some assembly is required.   For whatever reason we did not get to unpacking it and putting it together right away.  A couple of weeks later the church I was serving at as youth minister had vacation bible school coming up and the VBS director mentioned they needed a bench for the sanctuary decorations.  I volunteered our new one, but mentioned we had to assemble it still.  Someone else cheerfully volunteered that if I brought it in, she and her husband would assemble it. 

On the first day of VBS, I saw the husband and thanked him for assembling our bench.  He glared at me for several long seconds, before he asked, “How long have you been married?”   At the time it had been three years, so I told him.  He gave a defeated sigh and said “You are welcome, because your marriage would not have survived putting that together.” 

 It sounds like that bench was especially frustrating, and it probably was. I do not know how much experience you have assembling flat box furniture, but it can be an aggravating experience.  It seems that the pre-drilled holes are never quite deep enough, there is never enough space to turn an Allen wrench like it is supposed to, the pieces that are supposed to line up just don’t quite seem together, or to hold everything in place to tighten it down requires like seven hands at once.  I have always found trying to assemble flat box furniture to be a harder task than it feels like it should be.  I know I am not the only one to feel this way.  For instance, Ikea furniture especially has earned a reputation for how maddening it is to try and assemble.  One of the things that makes it so frustrating is it all comes with instructions.  They are step by step.  Looking at the instructions it always feels like it should be a lot easier to assemble than it is.  The idea of something being harder than it looks like it should be makes me think of this morning’s scripture.

This morning’s scripture gives a good description of what the church is supposed to be like.  It is full of sensible instructions about how as followers of Christ should live in community together.  Like flat box furniture, on paper the instructions in this morning’s scripture sound easy enough but prove to be a little bit more difficult in practice.  However, seeking to build the kind of community that this morning’s scripture describes is worth it because we find belonging when, as the scripture states, we belong to one another.   This belonging is one of the most effective tools we can have to fulfill our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ. 

This morning’s scripture comes from the end of the book of Romans, which is the letter Paul wrote to the Christian community in Rome.  Starting in chapter 12 the focus of Romans shifts to more practical matters about how the Romans should live as followers of Jesus in their culture and in community together.  This morning’s scripture is specifically about how they should live in community together.  This was a common theme for Paul in his writings.  In fact, part of this morning’s scripture might have sounded familiar to some of you.  In this morning’s scripture Paul wrote, “For just as each of us has one body with many members and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many form one body.”   What we find here in Romans is a paraphrase of what Paul went into much greater detail about in 1 Corinthians. 

So in Romans Paul reiterates that the church, the community of faith, should be like a body where each member belongs to the others.   Just like he did in 1 Corinthians, Paul then points out that everyone has different gifts and it is everyone’s unique contribution that make the community whole.  Yet, in his writing to the Romans Paul adds several other practical instructions for how to live in community together.  Paul instructs the Romans, and by extension us that we should not think more highly of ourselves than we should, we should honor one another above ourselves, we should share with one another when someone is in need, we rejoice with one another, and we mourn with one another.  Paul also instructed that we should not be proud but be willing to associate with one another no matter what someone’s reputation might be, we should live in harmony with another, and the love we hold for another must be sincere.

Again, these instructions sound practical.  They describe the kind of warm community many of us likely want to be part of, so it sounds like common sense.  However, much like the instructions of flat box furniture, history has shown that following these instructions are harder than it looks on paper.  Our love for one another must be sincere, but Christians who are supposed to love one another can bicker, fight, and argue over the stupidest things. 

Several years ago, Thom Rainer, CEO of Lifeway Christian resources, did an informal survey and asked people to share times they have experienced conflict in the church.  Many of the answers submitted are what you might expect such as disagreements over music, people getting upset over changing the worship time, and of course arguing over what color of carpet to get.  However, he highlighted some of the more eyebrow raising answers.   One person remembered a time there was a large dispute because the church budget was off by ten cents.  The argument ended when someone went to their car and got a dime to balance the budget.   A board meeting spent a lot of time discussing the appropriate length for the worship leader’s beard.   Another person reported a board meeting with a 45-minute heated argument over the type of filing cabinet to purchase: black or brown; 2, 3, or 4 drawers.  Finally, one person tragically reported a meeting that was the most contentious meeting in the church’s history.  The church decided to switch to a stronger brand of coffee and in response several people left the church for good.  

This morning’s scripture describes what a Christian community should be like.  There are a lot of good instructions, but if there is one verse that summarizes it the best it would be verse 10: “Be devoted to one another in love.  Honor one another above yourselves.” Following this instruction would create the kind of Christian community where we feel like we belong and the kind of warm and inviting community that others will want to be part of.  It sounds so simple, but as those stories show it is anything but.  When we are assembling flat box furniture and the instructions turn out not to be as simple as they look we are faced with three options, and these options are similar to the ones we are faced with living out this morning’s scripture.   

The first option is to just give up and leave it unfinished.  This certainly happens with church.  Some people give up by walking away, but other people give up by declaring “it is my way or the highway” and they then drive people away.  The second option is that we give up on the instructions and try to finish the project ourselves.  While this can work, the finished result ends up being a little wonky.  Maybe the shelf is not quite level, the structure is a bit wobbly, and a few pieces that should have been used do not get used.   When we pursue this option in the church it often leads to dysfunctional communities of faith, that do not honor one another or love with sincerity.   Going this route creates churches that implode over something as trivial as switching coffee brands. 

When assembling flat box furniture with hard to follow instructions, the final option we have is to follow the instructions anyway.  Despite them sometimes being confusing, despite them sometimes being hard, despite the fact we sometimes misunderstood or got it wrong.   The final option is we make the choice to follow the instructions because it is the best way to create something worthwhile.   The same is true for the church.   A loving community does not happen by accident.  It happens by choice.   It happens because we choose to be devoted to one another in love.  We must choose to value one another above our personal preferences or comforts.   It is not possible to love each sincerely passively.  For love to be sincere, it is something we actively choose to do and it is a choice that we actively live out.   We do this by rejoicing with one another, mourning with one another, worshipping with one another, and serving side by side to make a difference.   This is how we be the church, and this is how we make a warm community.  

 Providing a warm community where people can feel like they belong, and they feel like they are connected to other people is one of the ways that the church can meet the needs of the world today.  In our culture, there is a real and dangerous loneliness epidemic.  Studies have found that sustained feelings of loneliness can have the same health impact on an individual as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day.   While this is a problem across all demographics, several studies have found that loneliness is impacting more young people, ages 16-24 than any other demographic.  The Fuller Youth Institute researchers asked young people who found and stayed involved with a church what kept them at their church, and the most given answer was personal relationships formed.  Often these relationships cut across generational lines.  These young people were embraced by a warm community, and they found one of their deep needs met. 

As this morning’s scripture puts forth, all churches should be a warm community.   All churches have the potential to be a church where love is sincere and young people experience community I know of a story from a clergy colleague that illustrates this.  This person served at a couple of different churches, with one of them being much smaller.  On a good Sunday the smaller church had 15 people, and the youngest members were in their 60s.  The smaller church was 20 minutes away and had an early worship time.  This pastor’s kids were more involved in the bigger church, so they made a family decision that they would not make the kids go regularly to the smaller, older church with the earlier worship time.  However, one of this pastor’s kids would voluntarily go to this church regularly, and that was in large part because that smaller, older church had Bob.  Every Sunday Bob would talk to the pastor’s son.  He would remember what he said from week to week and ask questions that were deeper than “how are you.”   When Bob did not really have anything else to say then he would him “I sure am glad to see you today.”   So one morning after getting up early, and while in the car driving to this church the pastor asked their son, “Why do you do this?  Why do you get up and come with me?”   He replied, “Because I know they want me.” 

 This is what it means for love to be sincere.  This is what it means to live in harmony with one another and for the church to be like body where each part belongs to the others.   There is a real need for people to have a place to belong and not feel lonely, and I believe it is God’s design that the church meets this need in the world.  This is why one of the essential strategies for a church to grow young is to fuel a warm community.

In this morning’s scripture, Paul gives us instructions that lift up what a church should be like.  Historically, Christians have struggled to meet this mark, but that does not mean we should stop striving to reach it.  This morning’s scripture is especially relevant today, as there are so many people struggling with loneliness.  Being a warm community does meet a real need in the world.   All people, especially young people, want a place where they can be their authentic self.  They want place where they belong and where they know they are wanted.   By the grace of God, may we be that place.  

Scripture:  Hebrews 10:19-25

I remember way back when getting ready to be a parent for the first time, we bought and read all the books about being a new parent.  I read a lot and the biggest lesson I learned is that there is a LOT those books left out.  One of the small things I was not prepared for, is just how many times I would end up watching the same movie over, and over, and over again.  For instance, even though my kids are both older now I am fairly sure the lyrics to Let it Go from the Disney movie Frozen will probably be stuck in my memory forever.  While most families with young children end up watching what is popular at the time, I think a lot of young kids also latch onto something more obscure.  A lot of parents end up watching a single episode of an obscure kid’s show or a little-known movie many, many times.  For us one of those movies was Leap.
 
I do not expect you to be familiar with this one.  It was released in 2017 and went really under the radar.  It is an animated kid’s movie about a poor, orphan girl who wants to be a ballerina.  She conned her way into the most prestigious dance school in Paris and then eventually earn her spot.   By and large the plot progresses about like you would expect it to, but there is small detail of the movie that has stuck with me.   The head of the dance school, did not just demand perfection in form, but the most important question he would ask the students is “why do you dance?”   The movie establishes that this teacher is a perfectionist who demands absolute precision from the students, but this question lifts up why they dance is just as important, if not more important, to how they dance.  The importance of the “why” stuck with me from this movie, because I think the similar question can be applied to our faith.  The teacher wanted his students to know their answer for “why do you dance?” and I think we should know the answer to the question, “Why are you a Christian?”  

There are a lot of possible secondary answers to this question.   Perhaps your parents were faithful in bringing you to church and you have never known life where faith was not part of it.  Or perhaps it was not a parent but a grand parent with a faith of deep conviction that made a lifelong impression on you.   Perhaps, someone invited you to church once and you found a community where you felt like you belonged.  Perhaps through Christianity you found a way to serve, to make a difference, and this fueled a greater sense of purpose.  There are all kinds of secondary reasons why we might be a Christian, but for each and everyone of us there should be only one primary reason:  Jesus Christ.     

This morning’s scripture from Hebrews is a reminder of who Jesus truly is.  This morning’s scripture is a reminder that it is because of Jesus that we gather together in the first place.    An obscure children’s movie that I have seen far too many times, elevates the importance of knowing our why, and it comes to being a Christian we should know our why.  We should know why we are a Christian, and we should take the message of Jesus seriously.

Hebrews is one of the harder books of the bible to study.  In part this is because there is quite a bit unknown about it.  The author is not known, the exact time it was written is not known, and the intended audience is not known.  From very early on biblical scholars have done their best to try and fill in these holes and there are a lot of good, educated guesses.  What is known is that both the author of Hebrews as well as the intended audience are from a Jewish background.   Hebrews is also a bit more challenging because it is different than the other books of the New Testament.  Most of the New Testament contains epistles or letters, but Hebrews is not that.  Hebrews is more akin to a 1st century sermon.  It is a sermon that draws deeply from the Old Testament and Jewish tradition to make the argument that Jesus is supreme over everything.  

Hebrews has what theologians and biblical scholars call a “high Christology.” This means it takes Jesus seriously.  This means there is a strong emphasis on the divinity and holy nature of Jesus.  We see that reflected in this morning’s scripture, because this morning’s scripture summarizes a couple of the major points that had been made in Hebrews up to this point.   The author of Hebrews spends a lot of the book making the case that Jesus is the superior and ultimate high priest.  In ancient worship a priest was the mediator between the divine and the people.  It was a priest who was set apart to make sacrifices on the behalf of others, the main connection that people had to the divine was through the priest.    The author of Hebrews puts forth that because Jesus is fully in the complete presence of God the Father forever, there is no one better to be our connection to God than Christ.  This means it is Jesus who gives us the gift of eternal life and lets us draw near to God.

At the same time the author of Hebrews also makes the point that this is possible because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us.   Again, in ancient religious practice the primary role of a priest was to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people.  It was these sacrifices that both reconciled and connected the people to the god they worshipped.  On the cross Jesus made the ultimate and final sacrifice to reconcile and connect people to God. The author of Hebrews writes as much in Hebrews 10:10: “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”.    So, Jesus is not just the one who gives the gift of eternal life, but through his death and resurrection Jesus is also the gift itself.   As John famously wrote in his gospel, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only sone, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 

To have a high Christology is to believe that Jesus is both the gift and the giver.  Because of Jesus we are saved.  Because of Jesus we are forever changed.  Because of Jesus, as this morning’s scripture states, we can “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience.”  If you consider yourself a Christian, then you know just how good of news this is.   You know that through Jesus, the love of God has been proven.   Christ died for us while we still sinners.   The love of God is so great that, we are worth dying for.    If you consider yourself a Christian, you know that the love of God does not fail and does not give up on us.   Because of Jesus we have been given a second chance, or a third chance, or fourth chance, or whatever chance you happen to be on.  God has loved us at worst.  The primary reason why we should be a Christian is because we believe Jesus loves us and we love Jesus.   Because we love Jesus, we should take the message of Jesus seriously.   

 The whole book of Hebrews is dedicated to communicating the premise that Jesus is the main thing.  The author of Hebrews elevates Jesus as the ultimate savior and puts Jesus first on all things.  If Jesus is the reason why we are Christians, then Jesus should be our main thing as well.  The way we talk about our faith, the way we express our faith, and the way we live our faith out should all point to Jesus.  As this morning’s scripture points out, Jesus is the very reason why we gather like this in the first place.  It is only in getting together with other people who love Jesus that we can best keep the main thing the main thing and take the message of Jesus seriously as we encourage one another and spur one another on to be more Christlike. 

This morning’s scripture and all the book of Hebrews holds Jesus in high regard.  It centers Jesus as the most important thing, and we should as well.  Unfortunately, the good news of Jesus Christ that saves us and transforms us, sometimes gets lost in translation by the church.  In 2022 the Episcopal Church conducted an extensive national study called Jesus in America, and the results should be convicting.   This study found that among non-Christians, only 2% report the Christians they know represent the values and teachings of Jesus.   To put it another way 98% of the people who do not follow Jesus, think that we are doing a terrible job at following Jesus.  When people outside of the church think of Christians, they do not think of Jesus.  Instead, this study found results that have been consistent for the past twenty years.  The characteristics that non-Christians are most likely to associate with Christians are hypocrisy, being judgmental, and self-righteousness.  None of that is of Jesus.  None of that is Christlike. 

Collectively, as American Christians we have not let the main thing be the main thing.  The discourse around Christianity has gotten lost in the weeds.  Too much of the rhetoric is caught up in pointless culture wars, too much of the focus is on an us vs. them narrative, and not enough of it is on Jesus.   When the world outsides our walls thinks of us, if they think of us at all, it is because of what they believe we are against and not what we are for.   Friends, this is not how it should be.   We must- we absolutely must- keep the main thing, the main thing.  We must take the message of Jesus seriously, so that it being like Christ guides us.  Jesus should be the reason why we exist as a church.  If Jesus is not our reason for why we are here, then we might as well turn the lights off and go home. 

This morning’s scripture keeps Jesus front and center.  It reminds us that because of Jesus we can have confidence, and we can draw near to God with the full assurance of faith.   We need to keep Jesus the main thing because it is too important not to.  There are too many people who need Jesus.  There are people who need to know that they are worthy of a second chance.   There are people who need to know that no matter what is in their past, they are still loveable.   There are people desperate to draw near to God and people who are desperate for an assurance and faith in something that will not fail them.  People need Jesus, and the only way we can help people find him is by taking his message seriously.  

 If we want to reach people outside our walls, especially younger people, then we must keep the main the main thing.  This is not just a theory I have, it is backed up by research.  In the book Growing Young the authors wrote, “According to our research, churches that communicate the gospel of Jesus as the centerpiece of God’s story are more likely to have young people with greater faith vibrancy and maturity.”   When we take the message of Jesus seriously, we do not focus on abstract beliefs, but we focus on how we are following Jesus in our daily lives.  We focus on sharing and celebrating how Jesus is transforming us.  We commit ourselves to loving others like Jesus loves, and we draw near to God with confidence and the assurance that faith can bring.   

This morning’s scripture from Hebrews centers Jesus and elevates Jesus.   May we do the same, may we not give up on meeting together but may we gather regularly so that we can encourage one another and push each other to keep Jesus the main thing.  May Jesus be the reason why you are a Christian.   May Jesus be the first thing that people associate with you, and may you take the message of Jesus Christ seriously. May your hope be found in Christ and may that hope draw others to Jesus.  In a world of shifting and sinking sand may Christ be the solid rock upon which your life is built.  May your words, your actions and your very life glorify Christ above all else.  

Scripture:  Acts 8:26-39

In Detroit Michigan on a mostly unassuming day in 1937 the most amazing thing happened.  A man by the name of Joseph Figlock was dutifully doing his job as a street sweeper and he was cleaning the alleyway between two buildings.  Meanwhile, four stories up a young mother experienced every parent’s worst nightmare when she accidentally dropped her baby out the window.  The child plummeted for almost 40 feet, but the fall was broken when the baby happened to hit the head of Joseph Figlock.   While both Figlock and the baby did sustain injuries, amazingly the baby survived the fall because Figlock happened to be in the right place at the right time.   The story does not end there.  Right at a year later, the baby was now a toddler.  In an unsupervised moment, the little tyke wandered over to the same open window and accidentally tumbled right out of it.  Once again, the child survived because someone just happened to be in that alleyway at the right place at the right time to be hit by a falling child.  This person who happened to be there to save the day the second time was named Joseph Figlock!  Math is not my strong suit but the odds of the same man saving the same falling child twice must be astronomical.  It is truly the most amazing of coincidences. 

 A coincidence implies random chance.  In 1777 English Author Horace Walpole wrote, “Chance is the instrument of Providence.”  In the 20th century this thought got upgraded to modern English as “coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.”  While random chance and extraordinary events lining up can still happen, it seems like when God is involved there are a lot of coincidences.  When a one in a million chance keeps happening over and over, I am not sure it is chance anymore.   We worship a God that is deeply involved in the world that God created.   Our God is not some distant clockmaker who set the universe in motion and lets it run like a well-oiled machine.  God is a God of coincidences, a God of miracles.   There are so many testimonies of when God has provided the right person or the right situation at the right time.   This morning’s scripture is a reminder of the opposite side of that coin, because sometimes we are the right person and the right place for someone else.  Just like Joseph Figlock was in the right place at the right time twice, there are instances where by God’s design we are in the right place at the right time.   This morning’s scripture is a reminder that the best way that we can be the right person for someone at the right time, the way that we can make an eternal difference is to have empathy with them. 

When we hear this morning’s scripture being read, we might naturally assume that Phillip is one of the apostles, one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples.  This is an understandable assumption to make, especially because in the gospels a Phillip is listed as one of the disciples.  However, that Phillip is not the same Phillip that is featured in this morning’s scripture.  The Phillip we are focused on is first introduced in Acts 6.  At this time the apostles tell the growing church to choose seven people to oversee the distribution of food to the widows.  Among these seven servants or “deacons” is Phillip.   In Acts the narrative then spends some time focusing on these deacons, first Stephen and then Phillip.  After persecution scattered the church, Philip found himself in Samaria, north of Jerusalem, where he successfully preached and healed.  After an encounter with a sorcerer earlier in chapter eight we get to this morning’s scripture. 

This morning’s scripture is centered on Philip, but if we consider it from the Ethiopian Official’s perspective it is an amazing coincidence.   He was returning to his home country after a visit to Jerusalem.  He was returning with Jewish scripture and was puzzled by what he was reading.  Then this random dude just starts running beside his chariot, and he just happens to have all the answers to the questions he had been asking.   For the Ethiopian it had to all feel too amazing to be a coincidence which is why it ends with him going on his way rejoicing.   Of course, this morning’s scripture makes it clear that it was not just a coincidence.  God placed Philip right where he needed to be to make an eternal difference. 
While Philip being in the right place at the right time is amazing enough, there are some cultural considerations that make this morning’s scripture even more remarkable. This morning’s scripture describes the Ethiopian as in important official.   This does somewhat obscure the fact that he likely did not have much choice in this or any aspect of his condition.  In the ancient world, eunuchs were often enslaved, and they often did not have much choice in being eunuchs.  As one who served a foreign queen, that is likely the case for this man.

 Even so, He had risen to a position of responsibility and importance, but that did not change how this Ethiopian man was marginalized.   In the ancient world a slave in a role of importance was still a slave, and in the ancient world eunuchs were viewed as “less than”.   This scripture makes it unclear if the Ethiopian is of Jewish descent, which is why he was going to the temple to worship God or if he was a gentile who was drawn to the God of Israel.  Whichever it was he made the long journey from south of Egypt to Jerusalem to worship God, but he was only able to do so from afar.  Because of his condition and circumstances, a rule found in Deuteronomy 23 excluded him from the temple, so the outer court is as close as he would have been allowed.  It is clear from the scripture that the Ethiopian desperately wanted to know God, but he was an outsider.  He literally, was not permitted to come close enough to fully worship God.  

Philip and the Ethiopian could not have been more different.  Yet, following the Spirit’s leading Philip literally comes alongside this man.   He sits with him as an equal.  He does not look down on him, he does not try to ensure the Ethiopian knows his place.  Philip met the Ethiopian where he was at.  Again, by the leading of the Holy Spirit he did this physically, but he also met him where he was at spiritually.  Philip had compassion for and empathy with the Ethiopian, because of this Philip was able to share the good news with him. Because of Jesus, God did not have to be distant to the Ethiopian.  He was not shut out and forced to stay in the outer courts, but that because of Jesus that he too could be saved.   To prove he did not have to be an outsider any longer, he was fully included in the family of God and was baptized right there along the side of the road. 

For the Ethiopian this might have all felt like the most amazing of coincidences, but it did not happen by chance.  It was the work of God, and Philip being open to and obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  In the same way, there are people that we encounter, and it is no accident.  It is not a coincidence.  The Holy Spirit still leads, and there are times when we can be the one who brings hope and good news to someone else.  There are times when God has placed in the right spot to be the person who makes an eternal difference in the life of someone else.  I am confident that we are more likely to realize those moments and act on them when we regularly have compassion for and empathy with other people. 

Author and public speaker Brene Brown defines empathy as feeling with people.  Like Philip did in this morning’s scripture, Empathy is when we come alongside someone else.   Nursing scholar Theresa Wiseman sought to define empathy in her academic work.  To do so she identified four attributes of empathy. 

The first attribute is taking someone else’s perspective.   This means we listen and we try to put ourselves in the shoes of someone else.  We do not center ourselves in their story, because when we do this, we end up saying stuff like “If I were you, here is what I would do. . .“and we offer what makes sense to us and for us, not to the other person.   Instead, of centering ourselves in their story, we seek to understand their story from their perspective.  

The second attribute is not to be judgmental.  No one and I mean absolutely no one likes it when some evaluates them with a judgmental attitude.  You don’t like it when someone is being judgy of you, so we really should be judgmental of others.   However, we can communicate with a judgmental attitude even when we do not mean to.  Too often our impulse is not to come along side someone else, but to treat them as a problem that needs fixing.   Our motivation might even be that we want to be helpful, but when we tell people what they should do or should not do, we come across as judgmental not helpful.    Being non-judgmental does not mean we blindly affirm the choices and views of someone else, but it does mean that we make the intentional choice to try and understand the perspective that led to their choices and view in the first place. 

The third attribute of empathy is that it recognizes someone else’s emotion or seek to understand their feelings.   This is another area where, in trying to be helpful, we fall short.  When someone is going through something hard, our reaction can sometimes be to redirect people to a silver lining.   We unhelpfully tell people “It could be worse” or “at least you can be grateful for what you do have.”   In most of the cases these “at least” platitudes do not help.  

What often does help is the fourth attribute of empathy which Theresa Wiseman stated is communicating your understanding of a person’s feelings.   This is where the idea of empathy being feeling with people comes into.  This is where empathy is coming alongside someone else and sitting with them throughout whatever it is they are going through in life.  

 Ultimately empathy is about how we make connections with other people.   Empathy is not just saying “reach out if you need anything”, empathy is being beside someone even if, especially if, you can not fix it.  Empathy is the actions we take that communicate to someone else I am here for you and I am not giving up on you.   Friends, for most people no matter what they are going through in life, to have someone communicate that to us is good news.  

There is an old saying often attributed to President Theodore Roosevelt: “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”  As followers of Jesus, we do have the ultimate good news of the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation.  However, no one is going to care what we have to say about how to save their souls until they know we care about them, until they know and believe that we see them, we hear them, we will sit with them through whatever they are going through, and we are not giving up on them.   The way that we introduce people to the love of Christ is not by treating them as projects that need to be fixed and saved, but as people with sacred worth who deserve to be loved.  We first must empathize with people and share with them the good news that I am here for you and not giving up on you, before we can share with them the good new of Jesus Christ. 

This is true for all people, across all ages.   Yet it might be especially true for young people. In their research the Fuller Youth Institute found that empathizing with young people is an essential strategy for churches that want to grow young.   It is one of the necessary things a church must do if it wants to be a place that young people want to come to.  Empathy requires effort no matter what, and for many empathy with young people requires additional effort.  It seems to be a generational rite of passage for older generations to complain about younger generations.  If our starting point though is to complain about “kids these days” or begin conversations with young people by saying “back in my day” then we are not being very emphatic.  In their book Growing Young the Fuller Youth Institute researchers define what an emphatic adult looks like.  They wrote, “Its sitting on the curb of a young person’s life, celebrating their dreams and grieving over their despair.”

In this morning’s scripture Philip came along side and sat with the Ethiopian.  He did not judge, but he radically accepted him as someone seeking God.  It led to the life of the Ethiopian changed eternally and he went on his way rejoicing.   None of this was an accident.  It was more than a coincidence.  In the same way, it may not be a coincidence or accident when we keep encountering people.   May we be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.   May we not treat people like projects who need to be fixed or saved.   Instead, may we have empathy with others.  May we truly seek to understand their perspective, and may we be willing to come alongside them and sit on the curb with them.   In doing so, we will love them and it is through how we love others that we best share the good news.   So may we have empathy with the people around us, and because we do by the grace of God and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit may we make an eternal difference.     
           
 

Scripture: John 21:15-19

God has a sense of humor, and I am convinced that the thing that God finds the funniest is irony.  Here is why I believe this is true.   The vast majority of times when someone says, God has a sense of humor they then tell a story about they ended up doing the one thing that they said they never would do.  I know that is my story.    In our culture we do this crazy thing where we expect a teenager to pick a career path for their whole life, and I remember doing that in high school.  While I had a couple of different options I was interested in before settling on history teacher, I did have a starting point.   I absolutely did not want to be a preacher.   As many of you know my dad is a pastor, and I was emphatic that I absolutely was not going to follow in his footsteps.   God has a sense of humor.  

Throughout the bible we see God’s sense of humor on display as people find themselves in situations they never imagined.  Moses went from softspoken exile to leading all of the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness.   Jonah was a prophet of God who took a message of repentance to Nineveh, the one place he did not want to go.   Paul went from trying to destroy the church to planting churches all across the Roman empire.   And in this morning’s scripture Peter moves from a fisherman who was full of shame and who thought he had blown his chance to being a shepherd for Christ.   It does seem when it comes to living out our faith, it is perilous to say “I’ll never do that” because there is a long track record going all the way back to the bible of people doing what they said they would never do or people doing what they thought they could never do.    We see that dynamic in this morning’s scripture, and it should lead us to reflect on two vital questions:  What might God be calling us to do and who might God be calling us to encourage, lead, or mentor into doing more than they ever thought possible? 

This morning’s scripture takes place after the resurrection.  According to the gospel of John, this morning’s events on the seashore are the third time that Jesus appeared to his disciples.   In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives the message to his disciples to meet him in Galilee, and that is presumably what Peter and the rest of them went to do.  We do not know exactly when this was.  We know they waited at least a week in Jerusalem, and it is about a four-day journey to Galilee.   So, it is likely this event takes place roughly two weeks after the resurrection.

 I imagine for Peter this was a rough two weeks, filled with anxiety.   On the one hand he had to be filled with joy, hope, and expectation.   He had taken a huge risk three years prior to follow Jesus.   He had given up everything to follow something he believed was greater than himself.   Along the way, he had come to believe.  He was the first disciple after all to profess that Jesus was the Messiah.   He had to be elated that the grave was empty.   He had to have a lot of joy from when Jesus appeared to all the disciples and showed his wounded hands, to prove that it was him resurrected from the dead.   The impossible had happened, and it must have left him with wonder and awe.  

However, Peter had to also have a sense of dread and a gnawing anxiety.   When Jesus was in the most need, Peter had completely ghosted him.  Worse, just like Jesus said he would Peter denied Jesus three times.   Not only did Peter deny following Jesus, but he also denied knowing even knowing Jesus.   Peter went as far as swearing to God, “I don’t know the man” before the rooster crowed the third time.   As Jesus went to the cross this is where Peter stood in his relationship with Jesus.   Even after his grief gave way to hope, Peter had to be absolutely wracked with shame and guilt.  Even though Jesus had appeared to the disciples twice before, Peter still had some unresolved stuff to work out between them. 
            This finally happens in this morning’s scripture, and I cannot help but wonder what Peter felt.  I imagine he had the feeling of nervous energy, that tight ball in the pit of your stomach.  I imagine Peter’s breaths were shallow, too on edge to even take a deeper breath.   Peter was human just like us, so I am sure the worst-case scenarios were playing through his head all while he was trying to convince himself the best case scenario was possible.  It does not take much to imagine how Peter felt, because we have all been there haven’t we?   We have had moments of reckoning where we had to face the music for our failures, shortcomings, or mistakes.  All of us have been in the spot where Peter is and we were unsure if the hammer was going to drop.
It is possible that Peter thought he had messed up for good.  That he did not belong, that he was not worthy to follow a risen savior, and there was no place for him in the future. Jesus and Peter have their long coming heart to heart, and Jesus does not cast Peter out.   He does not yell out Peter, and he does not treat Peter to some sort of putative measures.   Jesus offers Peter a re-do.   Three times, Peter denied Jesus so three times Peter is offered the chance to affirm his love of Jesus, and that is it.   There is no warning to not do it again, there is no demotion, and there is no letter placed in his permanent file.  Jesus simply ends with the same request, that started this all for Peter:  follow me.  
Even though Peter did not have a perfect track record, Jesus still invites Peter to join in on the work of feeding the sheep.  As a lifelong fisherman, Peter probably never thought of himself as a shepherd but that is what Jesus is inviting him to do.  While Jesus is the good shepherd, he metaphorically hands over the keys, he entrusts Peter to do the job.  Despite Peter messing up, despite Peter not delivering when it mattered, and despite Peter being imperfect Jesus still trust Peter to lead.  Jesus does not back down from the statement that he is the rock upon which the church of Jesus Christ is going to be built.   By the end of this scripture Peter finds himself being not only forgiven and reinstated by the savior he betrayed, but he is entrusted with important, kingdom-building work.  
In the same way, it does not matter our past.   It does not matter how many times we have fallen short, it does not matter how many times we stepped up to the plate only to strike out.   God can and will use us.  There is a theological concept called the Missio Dei, which is Latin for the mission of God.   This is the understanding that the saving of souls, the redemption of all creation, the building of God’s holy kingdom is all the mission and the work of God.  Yet God, invites, empowers, and entrusts the church to be part of making God’s mission a reality.   Just like Jesus shared the keys with Peter and invited him to care for the sheep, God invites all of us and shares the keys to the kingdom with us so that we can build for it.  This means that all of us, that you can make an eternal difference in the life of someone else or a meaningful change in making this world a kinder and more loving place.  As testimony after testimony attests to, often the way that God can best use us is in a way we thought would not be possible.  We do not have to have it all together, because often God does call the equipped, God equips the called. 
I celebrate that many of you are already doing that.   You give of yourself to lead in the church whether it be serving on a vital work team in the church.   Many of you use your talents to serve and bless others by helping with funeral dinners or serving in the community at the food pantry, the school food bags, or many of the other ways you volunteer to make a difference.   Even if it was not vocational ministry, many of you have lived out your calling through your job where you used the gifts and graces that God provided you to make the world a better place. 
 I celebrate that many of you have accepted the divine invitation to join the Missio Dei, but that also gets us to the second question we should consider this morning.  Peter did just lead the early church and feed the flock of Christ by happenstance.  He did so because Jesus invited him and shared the keys.   So who are you inviting to make a difference in this world?  Who are you intentionally mentoring and who are you sharing your leadership keys with? 

​Often the way that someone responds to God’s calling, the way that someone begins to live in the greater purpose that God has for them, is because someone else nudges them to do it.  Again, this is my story.  I did respond to God’s calling on my life, but I still did not want to be a preacher.   I saw myself serving in the capacity of youth ministry and only youth ministry for the long term.  I served in that capacity at Avon UMC with Karen Devaisher as the senior pastor.   She saw something in me that I did not see.  She was convinced that I should preach.  I went back and looked at those early sermons, I cannot say what she saw-but she was unwavering.   She regularly shared her pulpit with me, giving me opportunity after opportunity to preach.   She was gentle mentor and a constant encourager.   I had convinced myself that being a preacher was not right for me, but Pastor Karen did not see it that way.   I can say with all confidence that if it was not for her pushing me and for her sharing her keys of leadership with me, then I would not be here today.  

Research from the Fuller Youth Institute has found one of the essential strategies for churches that grow young, that is churches that attract and keep younger people, are churches that share the keys of leadership with young people.  The research has shown that people ages 15-29 especially are looking for a role to play right now in the church.  This does not mean that we find younger people and have them do all the grunt work while we sit back and tell them what to do.   Leadership in a church should not require paying your dues and working your way up.  It should be about equipping the called, and those who have the experience are in the best position to pass on what they have learned.

Keychain leadership is what Jesus demonstrates in this morning’s scripture.   It is sharing the keys of responsibility, authority, influence, and access.  The way this is best done is not just handing over responsibility and saying good luck, but it is inviting someone to come along side, and then walking with them, encouraging them, and entrusting them.   Because remember the work of the church, the work of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, is God’s work.  It is God’s mission.  If we are engaged in the work of the church it is because we have been invited by God, and we have a responsibility to invite others.  

I realize right about now you might be thinking, that sounds great but we do not have a ton of 15-29 year olds that we can engage in keychain leadership.  That may be true . . . for now.   However, if we collectively decide and strive to make sharing leadership, encouraging one another, and inviting others to join us in the work of the church of the church-then we will be working to create a church culture that the research strongly shows young people want to be a part of.   This is because this creates a church culture where the words of Jesus from this morning’s scripture can be felt and experienced- Follow me. 

This morning’s scripture is a reminder that no matter what our past is, God can still and will use us.  If you still feel like you are searching for how you can make a true and eternal difference, then may you know that there is a standing invitation from Jesus where he says “follow me”.  You are invited to join in the mission of God.   If you feel like you are using your gifts and graces in a way that can serve God and build for God’s kingdom, then may you be willing to invite others to join you in the work.   May you be aware of the keys you hold, may you be willing to use them to open doors for some while training and entrusting others.  Wherever we are in our own faith journey, may we all seek to follow Christ even when it leads us to doing things we never thought we might do.   In doing so, may we help build God’s kingdom here on earth.  

Scripture: Amos 8:1-12

It is not just you and it is not your imagination.  Everyone really is angrier today than they used to be.  A 2019 survey found that 84% of people believe that everyone is angrier than they used to be.  This same survey also showed that 42% reported feeling angrier than they used to.   A Gallup poll has been tracking this for years and starting in 2016 they noticed that the anger level of the average American has been rising.  In 2024 their findings show that 23% of people report being angry pretty much every day.  There are a ton of theories as to why anger is increasing.   One of the leading and sensible theories is that fear and feelings of uncertainty tend to lead to anger, and we seem trapped in a cycle of unprecedented times.   That tends to lead to a lot of fear and uncertainty.  

 On one level anger is an emotion, and like a lot of emotions we do not have a lot of conscious control over feeling the emotion.  However, an emotional feeling, the part we do not have control over, tends to last only about ninety seconds.   How we choose to react to that emotion is something we do have more control over, but anger is a hard emotion for us to react to rationally.  Anger is a very base emotion.  Anger tends to activate the fight or flight response in us.   This leads to all kinds of angry outbursts.  It leads to simple driving mistakes becoming full blown road rage incidents.  It leads to poor customer service workers getting yelled for things beyond their control.  It leads to people posting the most hateful and cruel comments possible online.  It’s not your imagination; people today are angrier than they used to be and the way that a lot of people are acting on their anger is down right ugly. 

It does not have to be that way though.  Sometimes we get angry over the silliest of things, and the best response is to just let that feeling go.  Sometimes though, our anger is warranted.  Sometimes anger is the right response because something is wrong.   In those instances, how we respond to our anger can actually be a positive.  In their book The Upside to your Dark Side, psychologists Todd Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener that our anger when acted on appropriately can actually lead to higher creativity and more effective performance as we can throw ourselves into fixing what we are angry about.   They point out that research shows, when acted on appropriately anger can actually increase optimism because we begin to believe that something can be done about what we are angry about. 

 In this morning’s scripture God is angry, like really angry.  This scripture makes it really evident that we do not want to be on God’s bad side, but this scripture also points out what makes God angry in the first place. If something makes God angry, perhaps it should upset us as well.   Then we can use those feelings to fuel us in making this world a better place. 

There are sixteen books in the Old Testament named after prophets.  Chronologically, Amos is the first of those prophets.   Biblical scholars can place the time of Amos’ activity as a prophet between 760-750 BCE.  While Jonah and Hosea were contemporaries of Amos, Amos likely started his prophetic career earlier.  Amos was not the first prophet.   The biblical history books like 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, and the Kings have prophets.   However, Amos started a trend that many of the other named prophets that came after him also followed.  The earlier prophets like Samuel or Elijah the almost exclusively focused on calling out idolatry and not being faithful to following God.  Amos and the others that came after him also did that.  However, Amos and those that came after him also spent a lot of time calling out injustice, calling out oppression, and calling out taking advantage of the poor.  It is this injustice that has God so hot under the collar in this morning’s scripture. 

In this morning’s scripture God’s anger is burning at the unfair and unjust commerce practices that were happening in the Northern kingdom of Israel.  The wealthy were cheating the poor to get more money for themselves, specifically in how grain was being sold.  They were using containers that contained less grain than they were supposed to and they were using scales that were weighted so that they could overcharge for less.  They also were mixing in chaff with the grain so that they could sell a greater quantity of inferior quality. 

Perhaps the most sinister injustice being practiced is described in verse 6: “buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.”  Over the years there has been some debate as to what exactly this verse means.  One of the leading thoughts is that wealthy people were lending money to the poor and needy to buy food.  As a symbolic collateral, the person borrowing the money surrendered their sandals to the lender.  When these loans could not be repaid, the borrower then entered a form of debt slavery to pay back what was owed.  The wealthy were lending money for food that they knew could not be paid, in order to get free labor-instead of paying a fair wage in the first place.  If that is the practice this morning’s scripture is describing, then it is absolutely evil.  It is a practice that had God furious. 

 One of the attributes of God that we see named and repeated throughout the scripture is that God is a God of justice.  We find this stated all over the bible. For instance, we find this idea in Deuteronomy 32:4: “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.  A faithful God, who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”  We find it in the Psalms, such as Psalm 97:  The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad . . .righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.”   We also find this idea expressed in the New Testament.  In 2 Thessalonians 1:6 Paul simply stated, “God is just.”  The prophets, like Amos, tell us time and time again that the type of injustice that seems to anger God the most is when the rich and powerful take advantage or exploit the poor and vulnerable. 

This scripture can cause us to ask the question, if God hates injustice so much then why does God allow so much injustice?   There is an old story that speaks to this.  The story goes that there was once a man who deeply troubled by the evil and the suffering in the world, so he decided to ask God.  He prayed and asked God to answer him one question.  He prayed this prayer, constantly, non-stop day after day.   Finally, a voice from the sky spoke to this man, and said “I will answer your one question, if you then answer one question for me.”   The man agreed and he asked his question, he asked, “Why do you allow things like hate, famine, war, suffering, homelessness, crime, and despair to exist in the world.?”   God responded, “That’s funny, I was going to ask you the exact same question!”

  Injustice and oppression is not some sort of natural disaster.  It is the result of human choice.  It all persists because collectively we do not work hard enough to stop it.  While human nature may be fallen and disposed to sin, through the saving grace of Jesus Christ and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit we can rise above that nature and we can resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.  God is a God of justice, who is angered by the mistreatment of the poor and vulnerable.  God is a God of justice, which means that the fully realized kingdom of God is a place absent of all injustice.  When take a stand against injustice, when we seek to address the wrongs of exploitation, and when we care for those that, others are taking advantage of then we are joining in with God’s redemptive work to bring about God’s kingdom. 

 I think there is one final detail from this morning’s scripture that is worth paying attention to.  Verses 11 and 12 state, “I will send a famine through the land- not a famine of food or a thirst of water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.”   When injustice reigns on the national or societal level then God feels distant on the national or societal level.  For most of my life, I have seen this push to “bring America back to God” or to make God more present in American life.   Perhaps we have been doing it wrong.  Perhaps we do not make God feel less distant by banning certain books or putting the ten commandments in court houses.  The way that we make God less distant, the way that we make God celebrated all across our society is by working to end injustice, taking a stand against oppression, and siding with the must vulnerable. 

There was a time when this is exactly what the followers of Jesus did.  In the first couple of centuries of its existence, Christianity had explosive growth.   Before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost there were around 150 Christians, a number so small that it was a statistical zero in terms of percentage of the Roman Empire that was Christian.   About three hundred years later there were over 33 million Christians and the Christians accounted for 56% of the empire’s population.   One of the pagan emperors of this time period, Julian, wrote about Christians and gave a hint as to what might have driven this growth.  Julian wrote “[Christians] support not only their poor but our as well.”   The Roman world of these early Christians was one that was broken, fallen, and unjust.  It was one characterized by economic disparity, corruption, and violence.  Amid this culture those followers of Jesus chose to stand against the injustice and oppression.  They did this by sharing their resources to care for the poor, they risked their own lives to minister to the sick, and when persecution struck they gambled their own freedom to provide for those who were imprisoned.  Christianity exploded in popularity, God did not feel distant, because the people of God pushed back against the injustice of their culture.   

In the time of Amos God was angered because the rich too advantage of the poor, they profited from the suffering of the needy.  In the time of the early church, this was still true in the Roman world.  Unfortunately, it is still true today.   Today, food assistance for the most in need and vulnerable members of our society is cut in the name of efficiency, while at the same time the wealthiest people seem to never be held accountable and only get more and more given to them.  We do not have to look far to find injustice all around us.   Many of these broken systems that support and create these injustices seem too big for us to do anything about.  It can be overwhelming, but we do not have to single handily do it alone.   We can pull on the thread in front of us.  We can seek to meet the needs in our community, the more we pull on the thread.  If enough followers of God pull on enough threads, then God-willing there will be a day when the whole system of injustice and oppression comes unraveled. 

 This morning’s scripture from Amos makes it clear that injustice angers God.   May we also get a little riled up by injustice.  May we use that righteous anger for good.  May it enable us to find creative solutions to meet the needs around us, may it drive us and focus to help those who are vulnerable and needy.   May it empower us to be used by God to transform this world into a more just place.   May God use us and may justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream.   By the grace of God, may it be so.   

Scripture: Amos 7:7-17

  For the most part the elite athletes who win Olympic medals do so because they have spent most of the time in their lives dedicated to their sport.  They trained constantly to be the best in the world, and they achieved that goal when their hard work paid off and they made the Olympic podium.  While that is usually the way it works there are some notable exceptions such as Emil Zatopek.  Emil was not a runner.  In his home country of what was then Czechoslovakia he worked in a shoe factory at the age of 16.   There was a local athletics competition, and the factory was to enter some participants, so a manager picked him and a couple of other boys at more or less random.  Emil initially protested saying he was not athletic and not a good runner, but he was not given much choice.   Out of one hundred runners he placed second.  This made him interested in running, and he pursued it without any real training or direction.  He found success in running, especially at distance running.   He competed in the 1948 Olympics and did well.  In the 1952 Olympics he made the last second decision to compete in the marathon.  He had never ran a marathon and did not know the rules of the race.  For instance, he did not take any water from the water stations, because he thought they would have to pay money at the end of the race for the water he took.  In a feat that would be unheard of today, Emil Zatopek won the first marathon he ever ran, and he did so setting a world record for the fastest marathon time. 

While Emil Zatopek’s record time did not last very long, to this day he is the only athlete to ever win a gold medal in three different long-distance running events at the same Olympic games.  Cleary, he had some natural ability and even though his training regiment was considered highly unorthodox he did put in the work.   However, he only ever got into running in the first place because he was picked at random to run an inconsequential race. For an Olympic gold medalist, it is an amazing origins story.  This morning’s scripture contains a different origins story of sorts.   We learn that the prophet Amos was not meant to be a prophet.  Unlike the custom of the day, he was not following in his father’s footsteps. Just like Emil Zatopek was picked by a manager to run a race, Amos was picked by God to proclaim the word of the LORD.  Just like Emil Zatopek went from factory worker to Olympic gold medalist, Amos went from tending animals to confronting kings.  When we consider this morning’s scripture and how God called Amos, then we can see that God still calls unlikely people to be prophetic voices today. 

This morning’s scripture from Amos comes from the part of the bible classified as the minor prophets.  It is probably fair to say that for a lot of people, this is the part of the bible that gets skipped over the most.  Like this morning’s scripture it has a lot of hard to pronounce names and reference to places we are not familiar with.  So, to best understand scriptures like this morning’s we need a little context.

 During the time of Amos, the Israelites had split the promise land into two kingdoms.   The kingdom of Judah in the South had Jerusalem, but the kingdom of Israel in the North had more territory.  When this split happened after the death of King Solomon, the leader of the northern kingdom was concerned that because God’s temple was in Jerusalem his people would stay connected to the southern kingdom and his power would be threatened.  To address this, he set up two golden idols for the people to worship.  One of those places was in Bethel which is why it is mentioned in this morning’s scripture.  For generations, the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel, led the people into idolatry and as the kings did evil in the sight of God the people got further and further from following God in their daily lives. 

In response, God called and sent prophets like Amos.  The prophets spoke on behalf of God, but often I think we have the wrong idea of prophecy.  Biblical prophecy was not just a foretelling of future events.   It was not cryptic riddles that had to be figured out or force people to watch for certain developments that kind of sort of fit as a portent that the ancient prophecy was about to be fulfilled.   Rather most biblical prophecies are like the ones we find in this morning’s scripture.  The words of the prophets were meant to be a warning, and that is what we see here in Amos. 

For instance, a plumb line was a type of level to test the straightness of a structure.  It measured if a building was in the parameters it was supposed to be in.  God had given the Israelites the law.  It served as the plumb line, the measure of how to live in right relationship with God and with each other.   It also specified clear consequences for not following the law.   Through the vision of the plumb line, God is communicating that if the people do not straighten up, if they do not abandon their idolatrous worship, then their actions will have consequences.  When prophets like Amos spoke pronouncements of judgement such as we see in verse 17 of this morning’s scripture the intention is not just to pronounce doom and gloom.   The point is to convict hearts, change minds, and lead to repentance. 

The Old Testament prophets were not fortune tellers or mysterious figures predicting the future.  They were truth tellers.  They were people called by God to cut through the noise, the spin, the propaganda, and the alternative facts.  They pointed out uncomfortable truths, and they urged people to do something about it.  The prophets sought to capture people’s attention and turn them back towards God. 
 
 While there are not Old Testament style prophets today, there is still a great need for prophetic truth telling.  There is still a great need for attention to be called to what is wrong and against God’s ways.   There is still need for the hearts of many to turn back to God.  There is still a need for prophetic voices today.  Through the empowerment, of the Holy Spirit it is still possible for God to raise up people to be these voices today.  In their book Find Your Place Rob Wegner and Brian Phipps, write about a modern-day prophet might look like.  The wrote, “Prophets question and reform. . .they have a love for what is true and right, and they know what needs to be emphasized when it comes time to challenge and confront.”

We need prophetic voices today.   We need voices willing to proclaim what is true and right.  Truth needs to be spoken to power.  Evil, injustice, and oppression need to be resisted.  Sometimes even the best of us need to be reminded that we failed to be an obedient church and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.  Someone needs to speak up, someone need to say the things that need to be said, and someone needs to take a stand.  A stand for what is Godly.  A stand for what is truth.  A stand for what is right.  While many of us probably believe that is exactly what is needed, we also tend to be a little slow to stand.  We tend not to want to raise our voice too loud, and we tend not to want to call much attention to ourselves.  But I think this morning’s scripture and the way that Amos answered the call to be a prophet should challenge us.  If we truly believe someone should stand up and speak out, then this scripture challenges us to ask, “Why not us?  Why not me?”

 It was not anywhere on Amos’ bingo card to be a prophet of God.  He did not travel to Bethel and start prophesying because he was trying to build a following, gain fame, or make money.   In fact, before God called him, it seemed Amos was content with his life.  The English translation says he was a shepherd, but that is not quite right.  The word here translated as shepherd only appears in this one place in all of the Old Testament.  It is a word that seems to be related to the word for cattle.  It is likely that Amos did not tend a flock of sheep but a herd of cattle.  So, he wasn’t a shepherd, he was a cowboy.   We get the impression that he would have been happy minding his own business out on the range, but God had other plans.   Amos was not from or familiar with the ways of the Northern Kingdom, but God used him anyway.   Amos did not have any training or background in being a prophet.  But God used him anyway.   Amos probably would have been content with his fig trees and livestock, but God used him anyway.   What made Amos most qualified to be a prophet, was his willingness to follow God.  He spoke up and he stood up because he was being obedient to the leading of God. 

 In the same way, as followers of Jesus we should not stay seated and we should not stay silent, because we should have a willingness to follow our Lord and Savior.  Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves.   He urged us to care for the least of these, and told us that when we feed the hungry, when we provide for the impoverished, when we show kindness to the marginalized and the oppressed then it is as if we are doing those actions for him.  We can not love the people that Jesus has asked us to love quietly. Our love should be loud.   We can not love the people that Jesus has asked us to love  while blending into the crowd.  Our love should be bold.   Amos was a prophet because he was following God, and we should speak up and stand up because we are following Christ. 

There is a story from Christian history that I think illustrates what it looks like to follow the example of Amos and use our prophetic voice.  Much like how God called Amos out of obscurity to be a prophet, God did something similar for Amy Carmichael in the 19th century.  She was an Irish woman born in 1867.  She felt called by God at the age of 20 to be a missionary.   She initially met resistance due to her gender and some health concerns.  However, Amy felt called by God and she was insistent.   Her persistence paid off and she found herself with a missionary organization stationed in India.   Like all missionaries, Amy’s life calling was to share the good news of Jesus Christ, but she did not take the standard approach of that era.  To better reach the local population she took on their diet, dress, and way of life.  Instead of preaching about how the people of India should change their ways, she instead sought to show them God’s love through her actions. She specifically reached out to the poorest, youngest, and most oppressed population. In India during this time, it was common practice to give unwanted children over to Hindu temples, where they essentially had to serve a lifetime of forced servitude, of slavery.   Amy spoke out against this practice, but she also stood up against it.  She would find these children and bring them safety.  Despite threat of death, she built a home to protect these children that became known as the Dohnavur Fellowship.  Those who benefited from these enslavement practices tried to tear her down.  They tried to give her a tarnished reputation and call her the “white woman who steals children.”   Despite that, Amy stayed faithful to follow Christ.  She would often travel for days just to rescue a single child.   Every day she sought to live with purpose by following God’s will and loving the least of these.   She sought to save and care for children for fifty-five straight years.   She never took a break, she never went home.   Amy’s lifetime resulted in over 1,000 abused, abandoned, and enslaved children being freed, provided for, and loved.

Amy Carmichael used a prophetic voice to call out a practice that was wrong and evil.  She put that into action and stood against oppression.   She did this because she was following Jesus and God’s leading.   There is so much that is wrong in the world today.  Someone needs to stand for what is right.  There are things that need to be said, there is evil that needs to be called out, and there is much need for prophetic voices today.   Friends, perhaps it is your voice that is needed.   Like God called Amos, like God called Amy Carcmichael, perhaps God is calling you.   If we take following Jesus seriously.  If we truly want to love like Jesus, then being silent is not an option.   Speaking up and standing up for others is love in action, and that is what we must do. 

So may you find your voice.   May you speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.  As this morning’s scripture remind us, the most important quality to being used by God, the number attribute needed to be a prophet, is to be wiling to follow God.  So may we be willing to saddle up and use our prophetic voice so that disciples of Jesus Christ are made for the transformation of the world. 
              
 

Scripture:  Galatians 6:1-10

The story goes that a fiery preacher once chose for a sermon topic, “forgive your enemies.”  He read the scripture, he preached passionately, and he tugged at heart strings.  At the end, the preacher asked, “How many of you are willing to forgive your enemies today.”  Now several people were genuinely convicted and ready to forgive.  A little over half the hands went up.  For this preacher, that was not good enough.  So, he launched into another story and gave an even more impassioned plea.   Twenty minutes later he asked again, “How many of you are willing to forgive your enemies today?”   This time about 3/4ths of the congregation raised their hands.   For the preacher though, this still was not good enough.  So, he continued on for another twenty minutes.   By this time people were more concerned about eating lunch than they were about forgiving their enemies, so when the preacher asked a third time nearly all of the hands went up.  All but one belonging to a little old lady.   The preacher asked the woman directly, “Are you not willing to forgive your enemies?”   With a thin voice, the woman replied, “I don’t have any.”  

Surprised by the response, the preacher asked, “and how old are you?”  

She replied, “ninety-three.”

The preacher then instructed, “Then please, come down front and tell us all how someone can live to ninety-three and not have any enemies.”

Very slowly, the woman made her way to the front of the sanctuary, she turned around and said, “Well it’s simple really.   I outlived them all.”

This story, along with this morning’s scripture, reveals a simple truth.   Living our lives while following Jesus, seeking to live in a faith community with one another, can sometimes get messy.   Every clergy colleague I know has a painful story of when they learned that church people are not always nice people.  There will be times when someone, through their selfish actions or careless words, hurts us.  There will be times when these people are people who should have known better because they are our sibling in Christ.   On the flip side, there will be times through our own poor choices or impulsive actions do harm to someone else.   Because none of us are perfect, even with our best-efforts things can get messy.  When that happens, I suppose one strategy is to just outlive everyone else, but in this morning’s scripture Paul gives us another option.  When things get messy our best way forward is to not become weary in doing good.  

This morning’s scripture was written to several churches in the Roman Province of Galatia.  These churches were all in some turmoil and conflict, which is why Paul wrote this epistle in the first place.   Throughout Galatians, Paul assured these congregations that they were all saved by faith in Christ Jesus.  He encouraged them to view themselves as the family of God and have that connection be what binds them in unity.  Despite that, this morning’s scripture reading is an acknowledgement that things can get messy. 

 Last week we read the scripture that came right before this morning’s reading.  So last week we read how Paul encouraged the Galatians to righteousness, to holy living, by following the leading of the Spirit.  In doing so, Paul listed the acts of the flesh, or the sinful nature, and these actions were opposed to the fruit of the Spirit.  In this morning’s scripture, Paul seeks to answer the potential question, “What happens when a believer does one of the things on the sinful nature list?”  The answer that Paul gives to this question is not exactly straightforward, and on the surface is somewhat contradictory. 

The apparent contradiction is found in verses 2 and 5.   Verse 2 states, “Carry each other’s burden and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ”, but then in verse 5 Paul wrote, “Each one should carry their own load.”  While it can seem something of a contradiction, this is one of those instances where it is not an “either/or” but rather a both.   Verse five is a reminder of personal responsibility but verse 2 is a call to communal accountability.   The reminder of personal responsibility is a reminder that our ability to stay in step with the leading of the Holy Spirit or not, falls solely on us.   We have responsibility for our own actions.  If someone is unkind to us, that does not give us permission to respond in the same way.  Treating others the way they treat us is not a virtue.  While we are responsible for our own actions, when we veer off course, we do not have to rely solely on ourselves to right the ship.   This is why Paul wrote to the Galatians that they are too “carry each other’s burdens.”  They were to hold each other accountable and help each other in following the Spirit’s leading.  

Accountability though is a loaded word and concept.  People tend to like the idea of holding others accountable for their actions, but most people do not like being held accountable.   For this reason, accountability is often weaponized.  Some have used it as a club to beat others for stepping out of line.  That is not accountability.  That is just being a bully.   However, even when used correctly accountability can be a hard balance to find.  As Paul wrote about in this morning’s scripture: “if someone is caught n a sin, you who live by the sprit should restore that person gently.  But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.”   The struggle is to treat a person gently but not be so gentle that we end up excusing or even justifying the behavior that was sinful or harmful in the first place.  

 In our Methodist history, we have an example of how to best walk this balance.  When the Methodist movement first started in England, the methodists were organized into societies, and each society comprised of various classes and bands.  These classes and bands would meet weekly with one another, and when they did, they would ask each other the question, “How is it with your soul.”   Now ideally, the answer was “It is well with my soul”.  However, if they could not say that, then they would confess their sins to one another, they would pray for each other, they would encourage one another.   If someone said, “it is well”, but another person knew it was not.  If they knew the person had acted in a way that did harm or had chosen not to do good, then they would challenge their answer.  They would call it the behavior and hold each other accountable.   This was not to wield power over another or to put someone in their place, but rather it was a way to carry one another’s load. 

The reason why this worked is because the members of the class and bands trusted one another.  They all sought on their own to hold themselves to a standard of personal holiness where they followed the leading of the Holy Spirit, and they knew that when they fell short their friends would gently but firmly help them make it right and get back on track.  I realize this level of transparency and vulnerability is not easy for most of us.  I also realize that the level of trust needed to get to that point does not come overnight.   It is something that must be worked towards.  To best follow Christ we are to carry each other’s burdens, but we can only do that when we make the intentional choice to begin trusting at least one of our siblings in Christ to share our load.  While we get to that point, this morning’s scripture gives us an additional option of what to do when things get messy. 

In verse 9, Paul wrote, “Let us not become weary in doing good.”  When things get messy, when someone causes us harm, then we can respond by doing good.  We do not allow the cruelness or unkindness of someone else to harden our hearts.  When someone else chooses harm, we choose good.   While we cannot control the actions of someone else, we can choose and we are responsible for our actions.   Choosing to do good and make the world a better place, one small action at a time always keeps in step with the sprit and follows the way of Christ. 

There is a story that illustrates what choosing to do good in the face of harm looks like.   The story goes, that Ethel had passed away.   She was a dear old saint of the church.  She had done it all taught Sunday school, led VBS, directed the choir, visited the shut-ins, and anything else in the church that needed doing.   She had also served as a mentor for a young man answered the call to ministry from his local church.  It seemed so appropriate to have this young man conducting the funeral.  But, for reasons untold, when the time came for the funeral to begin the young preacher was nowhere to be found, nor had word been sent to explain his tardiness.  The crowd grew somewhat restless as the moments became minutes and threatened to become an hour.
 
As the restlessness grew, a middle-aged man in the congregation stood and addressed the crowd.  “It seems the preacher is late.  Until he arrives, I feel as if I should share a special memory of Ethel.  My greatest memory is the time that she brought me a cake, and it wasn’t even my birthday.  I still do not know the reason that she chose to bring me the cake.  But I will remember her for this.”
 
As he sat down, everyone turned their attention to a lady that rose to speak.   This woman had a reputation as the church gossip.  Whenever she spoke people tended to hold their collective breath, because they were never quite sure what she would say.  “Funny that you should remember a cake, because I too received a cake from Ethel.  In fact, I received several over the last few years.”
 
Amazingly, yet another man stood, claiming that he too had received a cake.   However, the cake he was given a sour cream pound cake.  This caused a murmur to rise around the room.  Ethel’s sour cream pound cake was legendary.    Whenever the church had a pitch-in the attendance that Sunday would be among the highest for the year as people came to jockey in line just to get a piece of sour cream pound cake.   The man concluded, “Ethel and I did not often see eye to eye, but she certainly did right by me.”
 
A few more people rose to give testimony to the cakes that this woman had baked and delivered over the years of her life.  Some had gotten one.  Others had received several.  A couple of more people even stated, with some level of pride, that they had been fortunate enough to receive a sour cream pound cake. 
 
Seated on the front row, out of the attention of the crowd, was Martha.   Since childhood Martha and Ethel had been best friends.  As people spoke of the cakes they had received, Martha sat strangely quiet.  You see, Martha had never once received a cake from Ethel. As the testimonies continued, Martha began to feel hurt in ways she could not explain.
 
About this time the door opened and in rushed a winded preacher.  The frustration of delay showed clearly on his face.  Going to the pulpit, he addressed the congregation, apologizing for his delay.  The first speaker rose again and said, “It’s OK pastor.  We have been passing times by sharing our memories of Ethel.”
 
The young preacher spoke again: “Since you have shared your memories, permit me to share mine.  When I first answered the call to the ministry I spent many hours talking with Ethel about a wide variety of matters.  Once, we were discussing the way people, even good church people, cut and hurt one another with words and action.  I asked her how she handled it when evil or meanness was spoken of her or directed towards her.  The answer she gave has stuck in my mind to this day: ‘When people have spoken evil of me, I try not to respond in kind, but in kindness.  When I learned who had spoken so cruelly, I would go to my kitchen and bake them a cake.  I would deliver it to them and never mention their unkind words.  Sometimes I had to bake several cakes.  And if they were especially cruel, I would go and prepare my specialty, a sour cream pound cake.  I learned that repaying this evil with kindness made the evil so much more bearable for me, and I hoped that every bite of the cake would tell them that I love them, despite their actions.”
 
A stunned crowd left the funeral home that day, with one exception, a quiet lady who rose from the front row and left with a smile on her face remembering the cakes she never received from her dear friend.
 
 As Christians we are a bunch of imperfect people, seeking to follow a perfect savior.  This means that there will be times that we fall short, that we miss the mark, and that we do not follow Jesus as closely as we might like.   May we be willing to be open with our most trusted siblings in Christ, so that we can ask each other “How is it with your soul” and we can answer honestly.  More importantly though, may we not grow weary of doing good.  When someone does us wrong, may we not respond in kind by may we respond in kindness. May we not seek to just outlive those who have wronged us, but may we do good- even if that means using cake.   As we have opportunity to do so, may we do good to all people. 

Scripture: Galatians 5:13-25

Even though the heat can be a little rough at times, one of the benefits of summer is just how plentiful fresh produce can be.   While I am in awe of the logistical apparatus that allows fruit to be available year-round, fruit that comes a pop-up stand, the back of a pickup truck, or that you pick yourself tends to be leagues better.   While most people love good, fresh fruit.  The Japanese take this to the next level.  Japan is home to some of the rarest fruit in the world.  One example of this is the Egg of the Sun mango.  While this type of mango is not that rare globally, in Japan it is only grown in one area, using low-tech, organic techniques.  As a result these mangos typically cost around $50 each, but perfect mangos can sell for the thousands of dollars.  The same goes for Ruby Roman grapes, which are a stand of grapes that are only grown on a single island in Japan.  These are rare because the growers have exacting standards.  Only grapes that reach a certain size, weight, and sugar content will make it to market.  In 2020, only 25,000 bunches were available.  The average cost for a bunch of Ruby Roman grapes is between $50-90.  However, some bunches can be graded platinum quality.  Bunches of this quality are not available every year, and in 2020 one such bunch sold at auction for $12,000 which works out to about $400 per grape.   The rarest and most expensive fruit in the world also comes from Japan and that is the Yubari King melon, a hybrid variety grown in only a handful of greenhouses in Japan.   This melon is known for its sweetness, and each melon cost $200-300.  Top quality melons can sell for more, with the record being set in 2019 where two melons sold for around $45,000.  

 I like fruit, but I am not sure any melon is worth the price of a used car.  There are some cultural reasons why Japan produces such expensive fruit, but a lot of it comes down to rarity.  The techniques used to get exact fruit coloring, size, or sweetness are exacting, labor intensive, or time consuming.  Since these growers still produce their luxury fruit, people are willing to pay top dollar for rare fruit.   While it cannot be grown from a tree or in a greenhouse, this morning’s scripture is also about some rare fruit.  I think we can all agree that qualities like kindness, gentleness, and peace are a lot harder to find today that we would like.  The analogy of fruit to describe a quality is a good one that connects deeply.   However, these qualities do not require going to a single island in Japan to grow, they can take root and grow in the heart of any believer.   

Last week’s scripture was also from Galatians, so to recap some of the context of what is going behind this morning’s scripture.  Paul wrote the letter of Galatians with the intention of his letter circulating to several churches in the area.  This is because there was an issue where some Jewish Christians had come to the area and begun teaching the churches that in order to properly follow Jesus they had to also follow Jewish customs and rites as laid out in the Torah.  They had claimed that following the law was essential for salvation, but Paul strongly refuted that believing that we are saved by faith through Jesus Christ. 

 In addition to refuting this viewpoint, Paul was also trying to get these Galatian churches back on track.   Reading between the lines of this morning’s scripture, we get the idea that there was some conflict within these churches.  This would have happened as some people went along with following the Jewish law while others did not.   We get a sense that conflict was a problem because in verse 15 Paul wrote, “If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”   Also, in the list of the acts of the flesh Paul includes several words related to conflict such as hatred, discord, dissensions, and factions.  In this morning’s scripture Paul lays out an idea that continues his instance that followers of Jesus do not need to follow the Jewish law as well as providing a way forward together without infighting and discord.  In this morning’s scripture Paul puts forth what righteousness looks like for Christians.  

 Righteousness is right living with God.   We are righteous when we live our lives in a way that pleases God.   Under the law of the Old Testament this was done by following the law.  The way the Israelites were righteous were by keeping the commandments laid out in the Torah.   Paul puts forth for Christians righteousness is achieved by following the Holy Spirit.   He states this in verse 15 where he wrote, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.    Paul defines the desires of the flesh with a list that includes many of the things that the Old Testament law warns against such as idolatry and occult practices.  Yet it also includes more personal behavior like jealousy and selfishness, as well as the behavior that leads to division among people.  The ideal here is that followers of Jesus do not avoid these practices because they are strict requirements, but they do not do them because they are seeking to follow the leading of the Spirit.  For Christians righteousness is not based in legalism, it is based in relationship with God.
 
Paul goes further though.  If we seek to follow Spirit’s leading then not only do we avoid the things we should not do, but we grow in the qualities we want to have.  Paul uses the analogy of fruit here to describe these desirable qualities.  Many of these qualities are the same attributes we see used to describe God throughout the bible:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  The fruit of the spirit should be present in the life of all who follow Christ, they should be clear and evident proof of a life touched by grace. 

This is because the fruits of the spirit are the outward manifestation of a changed heart.   We are filled with joy, we are more kind, we are gentler, and we possess greater self-control because the love of Christ has transformed our inner most self and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit has enabled that transformation to burst forth to the surface.   The ideal for which we should hope for is that the fruit of the spirit are defining characteristics in our lives.  That we are known by our fruit.   It should be that people know we are Christians, not because we told them, not because of the radio station we listen to, or the bumper sticker on our car.   They should know we are Christians by our love.  They should know we are Christians by our joy.   They should know we are Christians by our peace, by our patience, by our kindness and goodness.  They should know we are Christians by our faithfulness, gentleness, and by our self-control.  

And yet, we often fall short.  We, or perhaps more fairly I- because I cannot speak for you, there are times I struggle with being patient.  There are times I listen to the intrusive thoughts and choose fits of rage of gentleness.   There are times I am not my best self.   If that happens to be true for you as well, then instead of being the liberating call to Christian freedom and righteousness that this scripture was meant to be it can instead feel like a condemnation. Many of us tend to be our own worst critics, and when we read the list of this morning’s scripture instead of celebrating the small and big ways those attributes have been present in our lives, we instead only focus on the multitude of ways we have fallen short.   It is for this reason that I think that the analogy of fruit works to describe these characteristics works well and is reassuring.  

It does not matter what is being grown whether it be corn, strawberries, or rare Japanese melons.  The person that does the planting cannot make the fruit grow by their own power.  In the same way, we can not force the fruit of the Spirit to grow.  There is no guaranteed seven step process to be a more loving or joyful person.   The fruit of the Spirit is ultimately the workings of the Holy Spirit within the life of a believer.   While a planter cannot make fruit grow, then can certainly cultivate the best conditions for fruit.  They can ensure the soil is good, there is plentiful light, and all the water that is necessary.   The planter can care for and tend to the plant throughout the entire process to help create the best possible conditions to get the most perfect fruit.   It is the constant attention to creating the best conditions that creates the perfect fruit in Japan that sells for mind-boggling prices.  In the same way we can provide the best conditions in our lives for spiritual fruit to manifest.  We can take actions and make choices that give the Holy Spirit room to work so that the fruit of the Spirit can grow and be evident in our lives.  Cultivating our lives so that the Holy Spirit has room to work and our so that our relationship with God and our faith can deepen is how we as Christian live righteously. 

Looking back to the early Methodist movement they had a framework to help cultivate their lives to be fertile soil for the fruit of the Spirit to grow.  When the first Methodist societies gathered together they would seek to hold themselves to the three general rules.  These general rules are a set of best practices that can be a guide to making the kind of choices that help us consistently stay in step with the Spirit.    The first rule is do no harm.  Doing no harm is about what we choose not to do.  We do no harm when we make the choice not to take actions that cause pain or hardship for someone else, actions that can have a negative impact on ourselves, or actions that can reflect poorly on our witness of Christ.   Doing no harm is based in thoughtfully loving our neighbor as ourselves.  Doing no harm is the result of actively thinking about others and modifying our own behavior so that our actions do not cause hurt or hardship.  

 Doing no harm is loving others by refraining from certain actions, and the second general rule is how we love others through our actions.  The second general rule is do good.  Specifically, about this John Wesley wrote: “by doing good, by being in every kind merciful after their power; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, and as far as possible, to all.”  When we seek to do all the good we can, by all the means we can, to all the people we can, for as long as we can then we giving the Holy Spirit lots of room to group Spiritual fruit in our lives. 

The final general rule is what Wesley calls “attending upon all the ordinances of God.”  Sometimes in modern summaries of the general rules, this one gets paraphrased as “stay in love with God.”   This third general rule are about the spiritual habits we have to keep us connected to our savior and heavenly Father.   Often these daily or weekly habits are some of the elements of discipleship we struggle with the most, but they are some of the most vital.   If plants are not given the water they need, then they are not going to grow much fruit.  In the same way, if we do not regularly seek God or seek to grow in our faith, then we do not give the Holy Spirit a lot to work with. 

 The churches in Galatia were in some turmoil, and in this morning’s scripture Paul sought to recenter them on the command to love your neighbor as yourself.  He pointed out that this was best done by seeking to follow the Spirit’s leading.  In doing so we do not engage in practices contrary to what is best for us, but the Holy Spirit manifest in our lives in qualities that reflect some of the very attributes of God.  So may we seek to live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit.   May we seek to cultivate our lives so that the Spirit has room to do the work of transforming our hearts to be more Christ like.   May we seek to do no harm, to do good, and to stay in love with God.  In doing so may we become known by our fruit.   May we be a church who is known as a church of joy.  A church of peace.  A church of kindness.  A church of gentleness, and a church of faithfulness.   The fruit of the Spirit is indeed in rare supply these days, so may be the source where all of those who desperately need it can readily find it.     
 
  

Scripture:  Galatians 3:23-29

In Harper Lee’s famous book To Kill a Mockingbird the character Atticus Finch says, “You can choose your friends but you sho’ can’t choose your family.”  Almost instantly, this idea became adopted as an “old saying” like a modern-day proverb.  The idea that you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family may have been accepted as wisdom when the book was published in 1960, but today it is an idea that would be heavily disputed.  Across media, the found family trope has become incredibly popular.  Unless you just stay away from reading books, watching TV shows, or viewing movies then you have probably encountered this.  The found family trope is the belief that one can in fact choose one’s family, and often the main character does just that throughout the course of the story.  One of the strongest examples of this trope is the Fast and Furious franchise, which has included eleven different movies over the course of 21 years.  The whole concept of found family is perhaps best summed up in a line from one of the movies where the actor Vin Diesel’s character Dom says “I don’t have friends.  I have family.”  

The trope of found family is ubiquitous in entertainment media today, but that is likely because it reflects realities of culture today.   For instance, for the past decade “friendsgiving” has risen in popularity compared to the more traditional thanksgiving.  Friendsgiving is all about celebrating and being thankful for the people you choose.  A 2023 survey found that 40% of adults under 40 planned on being part of a friendsgiving celebration.  It would seem that large portions of our culture disagree with Harper Lee and believe you can choose your family.  Of course, the idea is nothing new, and it is in fact biblical.  This morning’s scripture is a prime example.   Multiple times it the New Testament we find ideas put forth like the one in this morning’s scripture.  Being a disciple of Jesus is being part of God’s found family.  The phrase “church family” is commonplace today, but when Paul wrote this morning’s scripture it would have been revolutionary.  In this morning’s scripture we find that not only do we find our family in Christ, but we should find our very identity.  

Many of the letters that Paul wrote were to specific churches in specific cities such as Corinth, Rome, or Ephesus.   Galatians, where this morning’s scripture comes from, is a bit different in that it was written to a region.  Galatia was a Roman province which Paul traveled in and established churches in this area.  This letter was written with the intent of traveling around to multiple churches in the area, and it was written for a specific purpose.  Apparently, some individuals had come to this area with a radically different viewpoint than Paul’s.  These individuals were Jewish Christians who believed that the Old Testament Jewish law applied to all followers of Jesus, and that one could not be a Christian unless they followed specific Jewish rites as prescribe in the law.   Paul strongly argues against this viewpoint, and one of his central arguments is found in this morning’s scripture. 

 The Jewish Christians who were attempting to get the Galatians to follow Jewish customs argued that it was through following the law that one was in right relationship with God, but Paul believed a relationship with God was found through faith.   This is stated in verse 26: “So, in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.”  Paul is not just using flowery language.  He is not making an emotional appeal, but rather he is making an legal argument.   We stopped reading at verse 29 this morning, but Paul’s thought continues and in 4:4-5 he wrote, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship.”

Under the Old Testament law, the relationship between God was built upon the law.  The condition of being God’s people is that the Israelites followed the law.  They were God’s people by virtue of having the law.  The Judaizers were telling the Galatians that Jesus did not change this, to be God’s people they still had to follow customs and rites outlined in the Torah.   Yet, Paul was consistently insistent that because of Jesus Christ the equation has been changed.  Through faith in Christ the relationship is not as God’s people, the relationship is now as God’s children.   The relationship is not dependent on following the law, the relationship is dependent on Christ alone.  Moreover, this is because through Christ God has adopted us.   Following the law to be God’s people, is dependent upon our actions, but being adopted by God as a child God, is dependent upon God’s actions.  It is brought about by God’s choice.   We are children of God, because God chooses us, God wants us, God loves us, and God has proven this love through the death and resurrection of his only begotten son Jesus Christ.     
   
God does not want our worship; God does not need our sacrifices.  What God wants is us.   God wants to be your Father.  God, the creator of the universe, the source of all that is good, the being that defines eternity and exceeds infinity, wants you to be their child. The beauty of this foundational truth cannot be overstated.  The simple elegance of it should not be overlooked or taken for granted.  In fact, this truth should be a foundational one for us.  It should go as far as informing who we understand ourselves to be.  Paul put forth the same idea when he wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” 
The primary idea here is that our identity is found first and foremost found through Christ.   This means that when we stare at ourselves in the mirror, the person we see, the person we fundamentally understand ourselves to be above all else is a child of God.   This is a point of commonality and connection we share with all others who claim Jesus as savior.  Following or not following Jewish customs was causing division among the churches in Galatia, and Paul impressed upon them that they should look to their identity in Christ above those as Jews or Gentiles.   We are all God’s children and this core, common identity should be stronger than any difference that we might have.  Unfortunately, as followers of Jesus there are a couple of ways we have struggled to get this right.    

One of the ways we misstep is that we confuse what unity means.   What unites us all is that we are children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.   Consistently we end up confusing this with meaning, Christians must be uniform in certain beliefs and practices.   This is what gave birth to Christian fundamentalism at the beginning of the 20th century.  Fundamentalism, which still lingers to this day, attempted to define what were the fundamentals of Christianity.  The flip side to this was considering anyone who did not agree with these doctrines fully as not a real Christian.    This confusion is also why every four years when there is a presidential election, a whole bunch of people will shout about how you can not be a true Christian if you vote for a specific candidate.  Unity does not mean uniformity.  What unites us is Christ.   I think John Wesley, the found of the Methodist movement said it best.  Wesley lived in a time when the religious motivated wars and conflict in Europe were only a few generations removed from his time.  Wesley also had some fundamental theological disagreements with his friend and fellow preacher George Whitfield, yet Wesely believed that the saving grace of Jesus was greater than all of these religious differences of opinions.  In his sermon, Catholic Spirit, Wesley preached, “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences.”

We are part of God’s family, because God wants us to be.   The family of God is big and the family of God is diverse.   The kind of Christian unity that Paul writes about, is not found by ignoring our differences.   It is not found by trying to all conform to one ideal.  It is found by seeing, claiming, and celebrating the vast diversity that is already found in the kingdom of God.  Because I promise you, you are going to spend eternity with people who do not look like you, who do not think like you, who do not believe like you, and who do not quite fit your mold of what you think a Christian should be.   God’s family is diverse and varied already.  Becoming a Christian does not erase that diversity.  Paul’s original audience in Galatia did not stop being Jew or gentile, male or female when they became Christians.  The differences and uniqueness remained.     The secret to Christian unity is to accept and celebrate that diversity.   God has adopted us into God’s family, and that is true of every single other person who professes Jesus as savior.  The secret to Christian unity is that we recognize this and we also choose one another as siblings in Christ.  The church is our found family. 

This means that when we cannot think alike, we choose to love alike.  It means when we encounter someone who does not quite fit the mold we are used to, we  do not seek to change them, but we seek to make space for them by loving them sincerely without question with a love that is deep from the heart.  When someone does not quite what we expect we do not exclude them instead we draw the circle wider still.  We expand our table to make room.  I like the analogy that John Pavalovitz uses in his book A Bigger Table.  He wrote about when there were large family gatherings the solution to fitting everyone was to go the garage and get the leaf which was added to literally make the table bigger.  Pavalovitz wrote, “We made room we didn’t have before.  This was a regular incarnation of the love of God right in the center of our home. . .This is the heart of the gospel: the ever-expanding hospitality of God.  Jesus, after all, was a carpenter.  Building bigger tables was right in his wheelhouse.”

 For me this is the best image of what it means to be in the family of God.  A big table, gathered together in love, breaking bread, telling stories, and enjoying being with one another.  It is a table full of different people, different colors, different opinions, and different lifestyles.   Yet the one thing that unites everyone is that they have a place at the table, this is the place where they belong, this is their family.   And what makes the table in the kingdom of God so special and so beautiful, is that there is always space to pull up one more chair. 

 In the province of Galatia there was division because some people sought to impose uniformity.   Paul wrote this morning’s scripture to offer a different vision of unity, a vision of unity that is based in our relationship with God through Christ Jesus.  We are adopted by God, which means we are siblings with all other Christians.   We are not here, because of who we are, we are here because of whose we are.  So may we find our identity in Christ.  May we claim adoption by God and our place in God’s family.   May that be what unites us above all else.   May we claim all of believers as our siblings in Christ as we celebrate the diversity of God’s family.   And may we draw the circle wide, because there is always room for one more.  

Scripture:  Acts 2:1-21

There are a lot of sports fans.   In fact, it is estimated that close to half the world’s population consider themselves fans of what we call soccer and the rest of the world calls football.  It seems that one of the universals to the human experience that crosses cultural and economic lines is a love for sports.  There is something wired into being human that drives us to compete and to cheer on others in competition.    Many of you no doubt consider yourselves a sports fan.  Perhaps, you are a long-suffering Cubs fan hoping that this might once again be their year, or maybe you are just counting the days until the boilermakers get back onto the football field, or perhaps you are all set to root on the Pacers to win game 2 tonight.  Whatever it is for you, many of us have a sport or team that we are a fan of.   But there are sports fans, and then there are superfans.  Perhaps you know someone like this, but if not you might have seen them on TV at some point. 

The super fans miss as few of the games as they can for their chosen team in their chosen sport.  They will be there in stands, decked head to toe in their team’s colors and they might even paint their face to match.   They will be among the loudest in the stands.  Super fans are not fair-weather fans.  In the worst seasons, they still show up with just as much enthusiasm as the winning seasons.   The homes of these fans might look like a museum dedicated to their team, and their knowledge of their team is encyclopedic, containing the most obscure details from decades ago.  For most people being a sports fan is part of their lives, but for superfans it is their life.  Their team is what they have built their lives around.  They are primarily known by their team affiliation above all else.  Being a fan of their team is who they are. 

This morning’s scripture is when the Jesus’ original disciples make the final step in being superfans for Christ.  From this point on sharing the good news of Jesus Christ was their whole life, it became the singular passion they built their lives around, it is what they became known for above all else, and ultimately it is what they would die for.  Sports super fans are fired up for their team, they are loud about it, and they don’t care who knows it.  In the same way, it was in this morning’s scripture that the disciples got literally fired up for Jesus as the Holy Spirit descended.  They were loud about the good news, they wanted everyone to know it, and their passion for the gospel changed the world.  The Holy Spirit came down on Pentecost, but it never left.  Today the Spirit can still empower, it can still get the followers of Jesus fired up, and if we allow it the Spirit can enable us to transform the world still. 

This morning’s scripture really is a great story.   As they were instructed, the disciples are waiting.  Jesus promised the Holy Spirit and they were waiting for what was going to come next.  It came in a way that was unmistakable and as dramatically as possible.  I think it is easy for us to overlook some of the drama of this scripture.  Verse 2 states the disciples were in a house when the Spirit suddenly descended upon them.  Jerusalem was full of Jews from all over the known world for the festival, but it is not like they were just milling around outside the house.  No, the blowing of wind, the coming of tongue of fire, the speaking in all of the different languages created a scene, it drew a curious crowd to see what the commotion was about.   I imagine that what they found is more than what they bargained for, because they found miracles at work.   They heard the various disciples proclaiming the good news in a variety of languages.  This means everyone there heard the language they understood as well as several they did not.  When I imagine this scene, I also see the tones the disciples are talking in as excitable and enthusiastic.  It was incredible, which is why some people tried to rationalize away what they were seeing as the result of too much day drinking. 

However, speaking in tongues was not the only empowerment of the Holy Spirit they observed.  Peter stood up to address the crowd and delivered a sermon, connecting to the words of the prophet Joel.  Now, up to this point there had been zero indication that Peter had any skill at rhetoric or public speaking.  In fact, in the gospels it is the opposite.  In the gospels he excels at sticking his foot in his mouth.  Yet, Acts 2:41 claims that after Peter finished talking 3,000 people accepted the message that day.  Just like the other disciples miraculously spoke in languages they did not know, Peter’s words changed the hearts of thousands because of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.   While some of this empowerment, like speaking in tongues, was supernatural in nature, part of the way that the Holy Spirit empowered was more commonplace but still extraordinary.   It is a way that all of us can and perhaps should experience the Spirit’s empowerment today. 

In the gospel of John, during the last supper, Jesus promises his disciples that after he is gone, the Holy Spirit will come.  In John Chapter 14, verse 25 we find Jesus saying these words: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will sed in my name, will teach you all thing and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”  So yes, the disciples spoke in languages they did not know, but what the spoke was the good new of Jesus Christ.  Yes, Peter was empowered by the Holy Spirit so that his words changed hearts, but what he said was the truth that had already changed his own heart.   Part of the way that the Holy Spirit empowered on that Pentecost, is that it fired the disciples up.  It reminded them of everything Jesus had said, it pumped them up, and they could not be silent.  

The Holy Spirit still works this way in our lives.  The Holy Spirit is the still small voice that reminds us of who Jesus is, and who we are because of who Jesus is.  It is the Holy Spirit that there is to remind us of the good news that changed our lives.  In our hardest times, in our darkest times, when we are at our most tired, or even our most apathetic, when we are exhausted, numb, and can’t feel a thing it is the Holy Spirit that reminds us that we are loved and that God has proven this love through Jesus Christ.   When we feel alone, like we don’t quite have a place, that we don’t belong- it is the holy Spirit that reminds us that because of Jesus Christ sacrifice on our behalf, we belong to the family of God, our names are in the book of life, and there is a place for us.   When we feel lost it is the Holy Spirit that reminds us that because of the amazing grace of our lord and savior Jesus Christ, we are found.   The Holy Spirit reminds us that we have a reason for hope that can not be crushed, we have a reason for joy that can not be extinguished, because Jesus has conquered sin and death, the grave has lost its sting, and because of Christ there will be dwell in God’s heavenly kingdom- a world without end- forever, and ever, and ever.  

 If we have ears to hear and take the time to listen, then the Holy Spirit will remind us of what Jesus taught, it will remind us of the gospel, and it will remind us the good news. Friends, that should get us fired up.   Sports fans, especially sports super fans, are known for how enthusiastic they are for their team. Why do we tend not to have the same level of excitement and enthusiasm about living out our faith and worshipping our savior as we do with sports teams?    Sports fans get swept up in the joy of cheering for and hoping their team wins.   As followers of Christ, we should be swept up in the infinitely exciting, never-ending love of God.   Given all of that, our worship services should be as enthusiastic as the pre-game tailgate parties.  Why aren’t they?

 Sports fans, especially super fans, make the big game their highest priority.  It is the highlight of the week, that everything else is built around.  Why do we tend not to have the same level of excitement and enthusiasm about living out our faith and worshipping our savior as we do with sports teams?    I remember back in the mid 2000’s when the Colts were at the height of popularity and success.  If the colts played a 1PM game, then it was a given that 11AM church services were going to be lightly attended.  In the same way during those years, if the Colts played at 4PM, then I knew youth group would only have a handful of non-football watching students.  Skipping church for the big game was just expected.   Why do we not skip the big game for church?    Why is the idea of even doing that laughable? 

The Holy Spirit works in our lives to remind us about the good news of Jesus, and just like sports fans are enthusiastic about their teams, we should be enthusiastic about the gospel.   In this morning’s scripture the disciples get the Holy Spirit and they are full of enthusiasm, they go wild sharing about Jesus and create a huge scene.  Because of the Holy Spirit the disciples were known for the enthusiasm for Jesus, and long that that was true for Methodists as well.  Years ago, someone pointed out to me a fascinating aspect in American Sign Language.   In ASL, this is the sign for Methodist.  The fascinating piece is that there is another word in sign language that uses the same sign.    The sign for enthusiasm is the same thing.   When the etymology of sign language was developing throughout the 19th and early 20th century, there was a clear connection between being a Methodist and being enthusiastic.  For all the reasons already stated, we should be enthusiastic about our faith. We should listen to the Holy Spirit and be fired up!

The disciples fired up on Pentecost, and by the end of the day there were 3,000 more believers.   The early church experienced explosive growth and a large part of this is because being filled with the Holy Spirit the disciples were enthusiastic about sharing Jesus.  There is a quote that often gets misattributed to John Wesley.  He did not say it, but it very much emerged out of the Methodist tradition that states, “set yourself on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles to watch you burn.”  Like the original disciples, we should not be shy about the passion and enthusiasm we have for Jesus Christ.  Because Jesus is good news, and this world is desperate for good news.   Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, this good news changed hearts and minds, and it can still do the exact same thing today.  Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit the original disciples shared their passion and enthusiasm so that they were disciples who make disciples.  We can rely on the Holy Spirit to do the same thing today. 

Today we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit.  We celebrate that the promises Jesus made were fulfilled when the Spirit descended like tongues of fire, but we also celebrate that the Holy Spirit never left.  We celebrate that just like it did for the original disciples, the Holy Spirit can work in our lives to remind us about Jesus, to remind us the good news.  We celebrate that the Holy Spirit can rekindle our passion for following Christ.   Once for the people called Methodists it was our enthusiasm for loving Jesus that defined who we are, and by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit may that be so again.  May we listen to the Spirit, and may we get fired up.