This sermon was given a few weeks back, but for today, tweaked, with some material deleted, and some added ... especially the material about Representative Elijah Cummings ...
If you're into reading sermons, you might compare the two and see how it evolved.
----------------------
“The Culture of Remembrance,” he said …
The Director of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer House in Berlin, Germany … “the Culture of Remembrance.”
I was there recently, and Jane Holslag, one of our missionaries, joined me for the tour … Jane had lived at Monte Vista Grove Homes for about year, and then some months ago, returned to Germany.
When I learned that I would be visiting Berlin, I contacted Jane, and she was kind enough to be a tour guide for a few days, and one of the things we did was to visit the Bonhoeffer House.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the great theologians of the 20th Century … he was arrested in this very home, April 5, 1943.
After the failed bomb-plot to kill Hitler, the discovery of documents linked Bonhoeffer, along with other members of his family and high-ranking military officers.
Two years later, April 9, 1945, Bonhoeffer was hanged.
“The Culture of Remembrance,” said the director.
Germany has worked hard to remember what at first everyone wanted to forget … after the war, no one wanted to remember anything, but just to get on with life.
Everyone wanted a culture of forgetfulness.
But who can forget the horrors of World War 2, the death of 6 million Jews, and millions of others throughout Europe and around the world.
In recent years, Germany has worked hard to remember, and not to forget … Germans have built memorials, monuments, and museums …
To remember what happened, and to remember why … why a madman like Hitler should be able to come to power, and in a few short years, drag the nation and the whole world into war.
Some things deserve to be remembered … even when they’re painful.
The culture of remembrance …
To be sure that history doesn’t repeat itself … that hatred and bigotry will never again win the day, that Anti-Semitism will be identified and condemned quickly and thoroughly, and all forms of hatred and discrimination.
“The Culture of Remembrance” …
And that’s why we gather here for worship, Sunday after Sunday … we gather to remember …
To remember why we’re here this morning … and who we are, and what needs to be done … we remember the words of Christ, the stories of creation, the politics of the prophets, the courage of the early church … we remember great things, and God’s great purpose … we remember the Big Ideas of faith, hope and love; grace, mercy and peace … the Christian Story … the women and men of faith who have trod this earth long before we ever showed up … and, yes, those who will continue to hold high the banners of Christ long after we’re gone.
At the heart of it all, thanksgiving.
The way of gratitude.
To say Thank you.
Thank you to God for the gift of life, the mercies of Christ, the joys of creation, friends, and family … to give thanks to God Almighty that we belong to God … God’s claim upon us … from before the beginning of time … I don’t know how any of this works, but the gospel of our LORD Jesus Christ is the proclamation of God’s faithfulness to God’s creation, God’s faithfulness to every creature, great and small … that life has the last word, not death … that hope prevails over despair … that love will prove victorious over hatred … that knowledge and kindness will put an end to ignorance and malice.
And in the end, God’s hand upon us …
There is nothing than can separate us from the love of God … nothing in life, and nothing in death … nothing anywhere, or anyhow, that can break the bond of God’s covenant love for us, sealed upon our life by the waters of baptism, and confirmed for us in the bread and drink of the Lord’s Table.
“You belong to me,” says God.
You belong to me, and I will see you through all of life’s tumult and sorrow … I will be with you in the best of it, and in the worst of it …
I am with you always … I am the Alpha and the Omega … the beginning and end … I am your first breath, I’m your last breath … in time and eternity, in the frailty of the flesh and in the hope of the Spirit, I am there, says God, with you, for you and by you.
And to say thanks for those whom God has given to us, who set the pace for us, who bear witness to what a devoted life looks like … I think of Representative Elijah Cummings who took leave of us this week …
It was Mr. Cummings who said: My life is based upon pain, passion and purpose.
Year-after-year, he made clear what a committed life looks like, and now, God rest his soul … his work is done; ours is just begun.
And, then, a bit more … of what we’re about:
We’re here to welcome one another … to love one another as Christ loves us … to put into practice here and now what a committed life looks like - what our pain and passion and purpose needs to be … to reflect the pain and passion and purpose of Christ himself.
To remember, not just words and ideas, but to remember what Jesus did: how he put off his robe, and put a towel around his waist, to wash the disciples’ feet …
In that moment, no longer the teacher, but a servant … no longer words of instruction, but deeds of kindness and humility …
When Jesus washed their feet, it was the sign of welcome:
To welcome the disciples into the household of God … weary travelers they were, all of them, feet covered in dust and grime … the journey of faith is long and hard … and in such a kindly moment, the Son of God is the one who washes their feet.
Jesus sets an example for us … how to welcome others into the circle of our life.
It can be something as simple as eye contact and the nod of our head - “I see you, I acknowledge your presence, I will not pass you by, but I give you my eyes, and I acknowledge your life.”
It can be a handshake, an arm around a shoulder, and even a hug.
All along the way, and throughout the three years of his ministry, Jesus shows us how to treat one another …
How to be the household of God … where all are welcomed, none are turned away … where the hungry are fed, the thirsty given drink, the stranger welcomed, the naked clothed, the sick cared for, those in prison visited …
Because we are all one in Christ, in whom there is no longer the great cultural divides of race and religion, economic status, and gender distinctions …
Paul the Apostle says it well:
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
The household of God …
A household without boundaries, without walls, no ditches … no families separated, no fuss and fuming about who’s in and who’s out …
This is the work of Christ, and it must be our work, too … to build bridges, and open doors, to speak with words of welcome and peace …
To God be the glory. Hallelujah and Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment