Below is part of a sermon I preached yesterday at a funeral for a dearly loved sister of our church. She was 83 years old and was part of five living generations.
When the family was sitting around trying to think of characteristics of Faye, the same theme kept coming up. Faye loved her family, especially all those grandkids. She worked hard and loved her church. That was her life, her vocation as a humble beautician, her church community and her role as a mother and grandmother. That’s what she did. That’s who she was. That is the difference she made in this world. And, that really touched me. Because, so often we want to point out the spectacular. We all want to do great things. We want to get to the end of our lives and have people stand here and be able to say what great things we've done. To get to the end and be able to point to spectacular ways we changed the world. And, we pursue after these things.
Image I like to use is our lives are like having a $1000 bill. We can hold that treasure as a thousand dollar bill. But, how often are we going to use a thousand dollar bill? We would like to spend that $1000 bill (which is our life) on something spectacular. But, for most of us, we don’t have many opportunities for that. We certainly don’t want to get to the end of our lives and look back and realize we didn’t spend our lives on anything because we were waiting for the big event, the grand accomplishment. No, days and weeks and years will go by before we have a chance to use it. People looking for our treasure will pass by and never know we have it. But if we go and cash that in for quarters. We can use quarters on a daily basis. 50 cents here, a kind word there. 75 cents here and prayer for a neighbor there. 43 cents here and a welcoming hand to a stranger there. $1.82 here and a meal to the family down the street there. $1.25 here and a swift kick in the pants to a grandson there, and without even realizing it we get to the end of our lives, and we find we’ve spent them for the sake of others and have accomplished something great after all.
That’s what I heard from the family. Faye, giving herself in small ways over a lifetime, (which turn out to be not so small ways)…until we come to today. And we look back, and see Faye spent her $1000, not in one lump sum, but in a thousand smaller sums as she served others, encouraged those she encountered, corrected those she was closest to. We don’t come today to remember some grand accomplishments, but a life of giving herself a little here a little there until a life is spent.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
The Story Goes On...
OK. I’m a horrible blogger. There are so many times I have intended to blog. For those who check this site every once in a while, I’ll try to do better. At least I’ll post some snippets from my sermons. Here is a piece of my sermon from yesterday. It was the last sermon in my series “You will be my Witnesses,” a series in Acts.
For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 28:30-31
The clock flips to 6:30 AM. It is another day, and yet, it isn’t because Phil, a weather man sent to cover the story of whether Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow, is stuck on Groundhog day. So every day he wakes up to a new day, that is really the same day playing out the same story. He finds himself weaving in and out of the same story, day after day, year after year. As the story goes on he finds himself more and more connected to the narrative that is playing out before him. Earlier, he is cold and disinterested, removed, then he begins to enter the story, making friends, saving the boy who falls out of the tree, helping people, becoming part of the community. He found himself growing into the story. I think this is the story of the church. We have been born of the Gospel of Christ and we are trying to live into that story, weaving in and out of the Gospel until we are completely consumed by it. Acts ends with a comma because the story goes on. God continues to tell the story of how his son Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. The church is the continuation of that story. We are Acts 29. With the Holy Spirit continuing to move among us we, like the church in Acts, are trying to discern how the Gospel story will play out in our time and place.
The church in Acts wondered "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (1:6). They wondered when the story would end and all the promises be fulfilled. Luke gives no answer except, “the story continues.” No need to stand staring into the heavens (1:11) there is work to be done, the story goes on. The invitation in 1:8 “You will be my witnesses….” is still open for contemporary witnesses to proclaim the gospel "unhindered" (28:31).
We are not there yet. We are not yet who God wants us to be. We are on a journey into the future. But, there is anticipation, expectancy, a sense among us that we are going somewhere. And that somewhere is not a program, not an accomplishment, not an attendance number, not a building, not a goal, but is a more faithfully lived life in the story of the Gospel. That somewhere is the formation of a people for God’s own possession. God is using us, these vulnerable, fragile, clay jars, to show the world what he intends for it. We are called to be God’s people. That means something. It means that we, the church are the preview of what God hopes to do in and with the world through the story of Jesus Christ who lived for our sanctification, was crucified for our sins, raised for our justification, and ascended to give us hope of eternal life.
For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 28:30-31
The clock flips to 6:30 AM. It is another day, and yet, it isn’t because Phil, a weather man sent to cover the story of whether Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow, is stuck on Groundhog day. So every day he wakes up to a new day, that is really the same day playing out the same story. He finds himself weaving in and out of the same story, day after day, year after year. As the story goes on he finds himself more and more connected to the narrative that is playing out before him. Earlier, he is cold and disinterested, removed, then he begins to enter the story, making friends, saving the boy who falls out of the tree, helping people, becoming part of the community. He found himself growing into the story. I think this is the story of the church. We have been born of the Gospel of Christ and we are trying to live into that story, weaving in and out of the Gospel until we are completely consumed by it. Acts ends with a comma because the story goes on. God continues to tell the story of how his son Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. The church is the continuation of that story. We are Acts 29. With the Holy Spirit continuing to move among us we, like the church in Acts, are trying to discern how the Gospel story will play out in our time and place.
The church in Acts wondered "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (1:6). They wondered when the story would end and all the promises be fulfilled. Luke gives no answer except, “the story continues.” No need to stand staring into the heavens (1:11) there is work to be done, the story goes on. The invitation in 1:8 “You will be my witnesses….” is still open for contemporary witnesses to proclaim the gospel "unhindered" (28:31).
We are not there yet. We are not yet who God wants us to be. We are on a journey into the future. But, there is anticipation, expectancy, a sense among us that we are going somewhere. And that somewhere is not a program, not an accomplishment, not an attendance number, not a building, not a goal, but is a more faithfully lived life in the story of the Gospel. That somewhere is the formation of a people for God’s own possession. God is using us, these vulnerable, fragile, clay jars, to show the world what he intends for it. We are called to be God’s people. That means something. It means that we, the church are the preview of what God hopes to do in and with the world through the story of Jesus Christ who lived for our sanctification, was crucified for our sins, raised for our justification, and ascended to give us hope of eternal life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
