Saturday, November 28, 2009

Reign of Christ Year B 2009

Reign of Christ B 09
Thanksgiving Sunday Combined Service
November 22, 2009

2 Samuel 23:1-7
1 Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, son of Jesse, the oracle of the man whom God exalted, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the favorite of the Strong One of Israel: 2 The spirit of the LORD speaks through me, his word is upon my tongue. 3 The God of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, 4 is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land. 5 Is not my house like this with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. Will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire? 6 But the godless are all like thorns that are thrown away; for they cannot be picked up with the hand; 7 to touch them one uses an iron bar or the shaft of a spear. And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.
Psalm 132:1-18

1 O LORD, remember in David's favor all the hardships he endured; 2 how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, 3 "I will not enter my house or get into my bed; 4 I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, 5 until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob." 6 We heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar. 7 "Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool." 8 Rise up, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. 9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your faithful shout for joy. 10 For your servant David's sake do not turn away the face of your anointed one. 11 The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: "One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. 12 If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne." 13 For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation: 14 "This is my resting place forever; here I will reside, for I have desired it. 15 I will abundantly bless its provisions; I will satisfy its poor with bread. 16 Its priests I will clothe with salvation, and its faithful will shout for joy. 17 There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one. 18 His enemies I will clothe with disgrace, but on him, his crown will gleam."

Revelation 1:4b-8
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

John 18:33-37
33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" 34 Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" 35 Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" 36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." 37 Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

God’s Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving is a harvest celebration, one that is very much like many such Fall celebrations throughout human history. In our country, we remember the Puritan’s celebration, with their Massasoit neighbors, of a good year’s harvest and the abundance of God’s providence.

This Thursday, many of us will gather with friends and family to eat the traditional foods of the American thanksgiving, the turkey and the gravy, the buttered corn, the creamed onions and the green bean casserole, the pumpkin and sweet potato pies, and of course, in our local version, fried oysters.

But this morning, Thanksgiving Sunday, I’d like to tell you the story of a different kind of Thanksgiving Meal.

It’s God’s Thanksgiving Meal, and God has invited all the nations. And they have gathered around the table in God’s house. Some are wearing suits, some turbans, and some dashikis. There are many different colored guests, some are peach-colored, some red, some yellow, some brown. Some are big and muscular and some are small and frail. But the table before them is laden with rich and delicious foods.

Sri Lanka is served a big plate of mercy in the form of St John's Center in the Northern part of the country. The center works with twelve refugee camps, home to thousands displaced from their homes due to civil war. St John’s has nineteen volunteers, eleven pastors, one doctor and two nurses who are working tirelessly among the camps in a systematic and coordinated way offering subsistence food, child care centers, trauma counseling, medical assistance, clean water and sanitation.

South Africa is enjoying a bowl of Faith. In the bowl is the Samaritan Care Centre, where Dawn Barnes tells the story of a man named Possible. Possible is from Nigeria. He came to the Samaritan Care Centre after having been shot five times and left for dead. He came because he had nowhere else to go and no one to care for him. He is paralyzed from his waist down. He had been covered in bed sores. For the last two years he had travelled back and forth from Nigeria to South Africa for several surgeries to repair these bed sores. He comes to the Centre to recover from the surgeries until he can get back to his everyday life. Possible is a man that lives out his name…he says all things are "possible" through God. He wants to walk again…he wants to teach again…he wants to be a father again.

Brazil is being served a fragrant cup of Justice. In the cup is the Christian Church’s ministry in Rio de Janeiro, where twenty families were finally granted deeds giving them ownership of the land on which they’d built their shanties after a long battle with the government and the courts.

The Dominican Republic is savoring a plate of Salvation in the form of a ministry called Caminante, meaning "One Who Walks the Path," that serves children who are at risk of being drawn into prostitution. Caminante helps develop the self-esteem of these children by teaching Christian values. Also, Caminante works closely with the families, churches, and the community to raise awareness regarding the complexity of this problem.

South Viet Nam is served a healthy helping of Resurrection in the form of the many children’s centers our church is helping to run there. Our missionary there, Xuyen Dangers, tells the story of a young boy named Sili, one among many the centers in Laos have rescued from the horrors of human trafficking. Sili loved to dance and the center got him into dance and theater training, but as he grew, he finally decided to become a social worker and continue the battle against the trafficking of child slaves. He mounted a production about human trafficking that was performed for the United Nations. He is now a worker in the centers, teaching children yoga and meditation and basic theater skills.

Palestine is enjoying a delicious slice of Healing in the form of a training program near Bethlehem. Thousands of Palestinian children there are suffering the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, unable to sleep through the night, to do their homework and to play with abandon like children in other parts of the world. Janet Wright, a member of Heart of the Rockies Christian Church in Fort Collins, Colorado, traveled with three of her colleagues – mental health therapists – to train twenty-eight West Bank therapists in the use of EMDR, a mental health treatment that reduces the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.And the US is being offered a whole sampler, in the form of health ministries in Virginia, homes for the poor in Appalachia, a community center for at-risk kids in inner city Los Angeles, a center in Alabama for families broken by domestic violence, teams in New Orleans and Texas rebuilding homes for hurricane victims, among many other scrumptious treats. Included in that sampler is the ministry of Philippi Christian Church, who is leading Middlesex County churches in meeting the needs of the growing numbers of poor in our county. Just yesterday, the women of our church held a bake sale to generate funds for this purpose.

But the main dish at every place at the table of God’s Thanksgiving Dinner is delicious platter of grace, in the form of communities just like ours gathering around the good news of the kingdom of God, communities fed and served by pastors formed and trained in the church’s universities and seminaries, communities made up of richly gifted people raised in Sunday Schools and youth groups, nourished in fellowship and study and the transforming Spirit of God, God’s nation of priests.

It is good that we are concerned about the poor and needy. It is indeed what Christ has taught us to be concerned about. Our response to the poor and needy is to be commended; it is a good marshalling of our resources and skills. We raise some significant money through our fundraisers, and that is good. Fundraisers utilize skills we are comfortable and familiar with. Many of us are gifted bakers and cooks. Many of us have stuff around the house we don’t need and would like to get rid of. We all understand shopping, buying and selling. There’s the added benefit of the simple fun of being together.

But what about our evangelism skills? Do we know how to announce the good news of Jesus Christ in fresh and compelling ways? What about our stewardship skills? Do we know how to deny ourselves in order to free more resources for the work of God’s church, and then to manage them together in Christ’s name and for his purposes? What about our ecumenical skills? Do we know how to bring the churches of the world together in order to most effectively deal with the mission we have been given? What about our understanding of God’s word and purposes? Do we know enough about the bible to truly discern God’s will?

These are skills we don’t necessarily feel comfortable with, skills that require discipline and training and commitment. But what might our service to the poor in our country and around the world look like if we did feel comfortable with them, if they were a basic part of our everyday ministries?

What if this morning’s service included not one hundred but four hundred people? What if all of them offered ten percent of their time, talent and treasure to the service of Christ? What if as much as half of that offering could be directed out into the community and the world? What if more people in our county believed in Jesus Christ and had dedicated themselves to serving him? What if the churches in our county worked together in unity, pooling their resources and talent to address the needs of those in any kind of trouble, from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth? What if we partnered with our Regional and General Church to effectively manage our many gifts for the greatest benefit to Christ’s mission, not only here but everywhere? What if the churches throughout the world operated as one?

I am not talking about utopia. I’m talking about real goals that can be meaningfully worked toward. In many ways, we are already working toward them.

At the end of the day, it is true, the church is meant to be a blessing, a feast, to all the nations of the world. At the end of the day, it is about the naked being clothed, the hungry being fed, the thirsty getting something to drink and the sick and imprisoned getting visited. In order to accomplish such work, however, in order even to get to the place where it can be done and done well, the blind must be given sight, the deaf must be given hearing, the demons must be cast out, and the dead must be raised. In other words, people must be called, hearts must be changed, minds must be educated, leaders must be trained and the truth must be made known.

My Liz has gotten big into food and nutrition, and one of the basic rules of good nutrition is the diversity of color on the plate. A multi-colored meal usually means good nutrition. The rule of Jesus Christ and the ministry we do at his command is just such a multi-colored meal. It is true, we are called to reach out from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth, to be and to do the love of God in Jesus Christ. It is also true we are called to announce a true message, teach a true way of life, and grow into something truer and more authentic than we were. For us alone, it is impossible. But with Jesus Christ, everything is possible.

We are the harvest of God, we are the ones that have been gleaned from the fields, netted in the rivers and streams and oceans, we are the ones baked into the loaf, we are the new wineskins into which the new wine has been poured, we are the eternally nourishing bread God has laid on the table for the world. We are the holy nation, the royal priesthood. We are the Thanksgiving Feast that God is serving the world, the living body of Christ.

Amen.

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