Stewardship Weekend Sermon

November 14, 2021
Stewardship Sunday
Daniel 12:1-3
Psalm 16
Hebrews 10:11-35
Mark 13:1-8

Please pray with me,

May the words of my mouth and the mediations of all of our hearts be acceptable and suitable in your sight, O God, our rock, our strength and our redeemer.  Amen.  

Well here we are, gathering to celebrate stewardship weekend.  A time of celebration, of seeing and celebrating God’s abundance in our lives, a chance to share the ways we will give out of that abundance in the coming year.  It’s a time to dream big and act even bigger…knowing, in our heart of hearts, that God is a God of abundance and we are called to live out of that abundance.  

And on this celebration of abundance weekend…we have a gospel reading from the 13th chapter of Mark.  As soon as I started digging into this reading to prepare for this sermon, one theme kept popping up for me.  

Apocalypse.  

Yup, apocalypse.   This passage in the gospel of Mark is known as the ‘little apocalypse.’  I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word apocalypse, it doesn’t lead me to think about a weekend of celebration and abundance.  It makes me think of people parading around with “the end is near” signs and worries about the signs - like wars, buildings being torn down, uprisings, general disorder and chaos - you know, those things that seem to point us to the fact that it’s the end of the world as we know it.  

Not very uplifting, celebratory or hope-filled, rather it sets the tone of fear, worry and scarcity.….not really the tone the pastor would hope for a stewardship weekend.  Right?  

Okay, that is not where we want to be today.  

But here is something that I also found as I was digging into this passage from Mark, an additional definition for apocalypse, which can mean something quite different than the way we have come to know and have learned its meaning.  

An apocalypse is an unveiling.  Yes, it’s an unveiling or an uncovering - a disclosure of something secret and hidden….in the words of Debi Thomas, “to experience an apocalypse is to experience fresh sight.  Honest disclosure.  Accurate revelation.  It is to apprehend reality as we’ve never apprehended it before.”[1] 

That’s helpful, isn’t it?  

To hear this passage from Mark in a way that we are seeing it anew, that something is being unveiled for us.  

In this passage, the disciples are focused on the sight of the temple, it’s large stones and beautiful façade.  But in this revelation, Jesus invites the disciples to see beyond the grandeur of the building itself…and reveals that God’s amazing work of salvation and love is not limited to the confines of the temple, or any building.  

Jesus, again, is trying to show the disciples the new way that God is breaking into the world and that it is different from what they have known and experienced, that as the kingdom of God breaks into this world, it will not be what they expect, it’s never what any of us expect, but it is still God. 

And that, my friends is good news.  

Jesus is preparing the disciples, and us, for the coming of the kingdom of God, and the reality that is will be different than we expect, or imagine or think it will be. 

But, as Jesus is preparing the disciples, and us, he is also inviting us to see what is being revealed, as well.  He is opening our eyes to this new future, to a new way of seeing God at work in the word, he is helping us to see it with him.  

The disciples say, Look teacher, what large stones and large buildings….

But Jesus says, look…at what God can do in the world…that is not limited to buildings, or cities or systems that are already in place….

Look, at what God can and will do…with you, in spite of you and through you.  

It is far too easy, to live in a time of uncertainty, and worry about the present and the future.  

It is far too easy to wonder what will happen to the greater church as we come out of a pandemic.  

It is far to easy to be fearful about the future when we do not know what it will bring…in our world, in our nation, and even here at Trinity.  

It would be an easy response to say, I don’t know what the future will bring in this place, so I’m not sure I can support what I don’t know….

It would be easy to just fill out an estimate of giving card or a time and abilities sheet and stick to a prior year’s commitment…just holding on….to see where this year of transition takes us…

I get it…as we continue to live through a global pandemic, our lives have experienced much change.  You may not be able to give as you once were able to but that doesn’t mean we just hold where we are…

Jesus reminds us, at the end of today’s passage, that this is just the beginning of the birth pangs.  

Maybe this year of pandemic has truly brought us to a place of a new beginning…not maybe, it certainly has….the veil has been pulled back to allow us to see and be church in new and different ways, outside and online…just to name a few.  As we experienced being pushed out of this building, we discovered or rediscovered new ways to love and serve our neighbors.  

As new things have been continually revealed to us throughout the past year and a half….Jesus says, look….things will continue to be unveiled….hold fast to one another…and look, things are being unveiled.  

New ministries…

New relationships…

New faces…

New opportunities for service…

A new way of seeing this space, and how yes, it is part of doing Christ’s mission in our community, but the reality that the mission we are part of is not limited to the confines of this building…that God’s love has broken out beyond these walls into our community…and we are called to be part of that love both here…and beyond. 

So, here we are, Stewardship weekend, and Jesus has and will continue to call us to look and see God at work in the world…and Jesus calls us to be part of it…

How will you continue to be part of this mission of love in the world?  

In response to God’s amazing love and abundance in your life….how will you live out of that?  

Looking at what this place has been, is right now…and can be in the future, how are you part of that?  

As you look at your estimate of giving card, and time and abilities sheet, in what new ways are you part of Christ’s mission in this place?

Now that new things are being revealed, how are you responding in a new way?  

Are you giving more of your time?  

In learning?

In serving?

In attending worship? 

Are you giving more of your talents?  

In worship?

As we have shifted back into full worship in the sanctuary, we know that worship is the work of the people as ushers, greeters, lay assistants, screen assistants, and livestream camera folks, not to mention the amazing wealth of musicians we have in this place.  

Have you shared your talent of praying for others?  Calling people on the phone to wish them a happy birthday?  Your talents of cooking or baking?  Your artistic talents or computer talents in helping with our website or social media sites?  

Are you giving more of your treasure?  

To financially support the staff in this place as they work with lay leaders to live into the mission of Christ in this place?  

To support the upkeep of this building and it’s many upgrades?  

To support different outreach ministries of this place….like food pantry, missionary sponsors, shepherding ministries or any of the many others?  

Because here’s the deal…the kingdom, that Jesus continues to unveil to us will come and will happen…no matter what.  It will happen with us or without us and in spite of us.   

I don’t say that to be negative…but God’s church is so much bigger than this one congregation.  But wow…what a joy, what an opportunity….to be part of this new thing that God continues to birth in our world.  Right?  

We are called to be part of this new birth…this new growth…this new beginning.  

How is God calling you to be part of this new beginning?  

And now may the peace, which surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and let all God’s people say, amen.  

 

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[1] (https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/2010-not-one-stone)

All Saints

November 7, 2021
All Saints
 
Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 24
Revelation 21:1-6a
John 11:32-44

Please pray with me,

May the words of my mouth and the mediations of all of our hearts be acceptable and suitable in your sight, O God, our rock, our strength and our redeemer.  Amen.  

In her book Bravey, Olympian Alexi Pappas writes, 

“I think this is called grief, feeling and even embracing your painful feelings.  Pain needs to see itself in the mirror and be felt before it can go away.  When I feel sad and I hold it in, I feel completely alone.  But when I let it out, I let go of all pretenses.  I’m just a human, which is comforting because it means that I’m not alone.  It’s good to grieve.” (p. 84)

It’s good to grieve.  

There, I said it. 

I give you permission to grieve.  

The losses you are experiencing this very minute or the ones that you have experienced throughout the course of this ongoing pandemic.  

The losses have been deep and different for each and every one of us.  

We, as individuals and as a community of faith are grieving.  

We are grieving the loss of jobs, the death of loved ones, broken marriages, a pandemic that has brought too much death and division, a change in how church once was and how it will continue into the future and the loss of ‘normal life’ as we once knew it.  

So, yeah, grieve.  It’s been more than just a challenging year plus, it’s been full of stress and change, uncertainty and challenges, all seemingly without a built in break to pause, reflect and begin to heal from all of this.  

So, let’s take today as just a moment, in the middle of it all to stop.  To grieve.  To remember.  To acknowledge that what we are experiencing is real and hard and painful and there is no quick journey through this experience and sometimes it’s exhausting!  

We find ourselves to be bone tired, yet we are unable to give the heart and mind the rest it truly needs.  (Joy J. Moore)[1] Because in this time of pandemic, we have not been able to escape death….it has entered into our homes, into our lives, into our congregation…so how do we find rest in that?  Or where do we find rest?  

It seems like it’s not possible to find the space to stop, to rest, to begin this process of healing because we are expected to just keep going…

So where do we go?  

To the foot of the cross, friends…that’s the only place we can go in this moment.  

And the foot of the cross is where we meet Jesus in our gospel lesson today.  

We join Jesus as he hears about Lazarus’ death.  

And in that moment, Jesus weeps. 

Jesus weeps.   

It’s not a sentimental moment…it’s deeper than that.  

Jesus is weeping…at the death of Lazarus.

Jesus is weeping for himself and what is to come.

Jesus is weeping for the reality of death in general, because he knows death causes separation that is beyond fathomable.  

Jesus weeps for what death does in our lives and what death brings.  (Karoline Lewis)[2]

Let me say that again, Jesus weeps for what death does in our lives and what death brings.  

Here in this moment - God, present in Jesus, is bearing the weight of the world, and all he can do is weep.  

That, dear ones, is our God…in human flesh and blood, feeling our feelings, knowing the brokenness that death will create in our world…and right alongside of Mary…and us…weeping. 

I don’t know about you…but for me, in this moment, I find incredible comfort.  That the God we know and love, the one who created you and me, is present with us in this moment of grief and sits with us and weeps.  

God weeps with us and for us, for the death in our lives, for death in our world.  

In that moment the God of the whole world…is human…and lives into our grief and vulnerability.  

In that moment, God - in Jesus - is present in our grief….and is vulnerable….just like we are.  

So in this place of grief and vulnerability….the foot of the cross, if you will, is where God shows presence and power.  

And that in that grief and vulnerability God has power over death.

In that grief and vulnerability God has power over death!  

Because Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed!

That’s what I’ve got, dear ones.  

That where we are today….we are not alone.  

God has met us in this place. 

God meets us in this place.

 

And sits with us…and weeps with us…and shows us that this is NOT the end.  

That death IS NOT the end!

There is joy beyond the weeping.

There is hope beyond the hopeless.

There is life beyond death.

I know, sometimes it hard to get past this individual or communal moment.  Sometimes, as I mentioned earlier, we need to make time for these moments to see and name and acknowledge this grief and pain and death.  

But let us do that as a community of faith and be reminded through the presence of one another, that God is here…with us…today.  

And as our journey continues, as we move forward with God beside us, our future is hopeful and hope filled because God is there in it all.  

God is here….in it all.  

Thanks be to God, because this is not short or simple journey.  This life and all the pain and grief we experience in it…takes time.  

Alexi Pappas agrees, as she writes, 

“All pain takes time.  Some hurt fades quickly, but other times it lingers like the glop of powder stuff at the bottom of a mug of hot chocolate.” (p. 84) 

You, me, us, we are all in different phases of this pain and grief.  

All of us move through grief and pain differently than others.  

Some more quickly, some more slowly…and for some, well many of us, it returns and resurfaces in unexpected ways.

So this is your pastor reminding you all, to be gentle with one another.  

As we, a community of faith, have experienced death so personally this year, be gentle with one another.  You may not understand how and why some of us are more tired, or more sad or more joy filled, or more hopeful or more distressed.  

So please, dear ones, be kind and gentle to one another. 

May the comfort Christ brings to us…be extended to one another…in presence, in weeping, and in love.  

As Christ is present with us now, let us be present for one another.  

And now may the peace, which surpasses all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, and let all God’s people shout, amen.  

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[1] Not a direct quote, but this is how I heard her reflect on this text on the Working Preacher Podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe5wbbV4Cu8

[2] Working Preacher Podcast - Link in footnote above.