1 Samuel 1.4-20; Mark 13.1-8
Places like this were built by two powerful energies …
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| Hasselback Potatoes & roasted carrots! Hope the sermon is as good as they were! |
The Christian religion … and a Christianized culture …
When Norm Haynes and his wife moved here from Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1959 to work at JPL, there were, as he says, two questions: 1) What school will our children attend? and 2) What church will we attend?
The first question remains: What school will our children attend? … but the second question, what church will we attend, has retreated … it’s not entirely gone, but it’s not the question it was in 1959.
It is a huge transition in America … as with any transition, there’s loss and there’s gain.
We’ve lost the material support of society … it’s not going to change … the past is past, and never returns … and if God is God, and Love is Love, there’s always a way forward …
No doubt, we’re in a bit of fog …
I think of Hannah, from our first reading of the day … her broken heart, her lost dreams, the distress and pain of her desire … she's the brunt of cruel remarks; when she prays fervently, Eli the priest thinks she’s drunk … year after year after year … how much longer, O God, how many more times must I pray, how many more times will I be disappointed?
She doesn’t give up … and neither must we … she prayed and prayed and then prayed again … how long does it take?
The early church prayed for James, and still Herod killed him … the early church prayed for Peter, and the angel set him free.
I do not know the mind of God, but I know God can be trusted.
Now is not the time to wring our hands … now is the time to fold them!
Now is not the time to fall down in despair, but to bow down in prayer.
Like Hannah, to persist in prayer … because every prayer is heard by God … every prayer counts … but the times of fulfillment belong to God.
Paul the Apostle writes to the church in Galatia: When the fulness of time had come, God sent his son … the times belong to God …
In the best of times, in the worst of times … to be a church of prayer … a church faithful to the high calling of Christ … a church repentant for the sins of the past … a church confident, because God is God, and love is still love, and prayers are still answered … in the fullness of time.
In this time and place, I celebrate Westminster … a story of courage and hope … and some sadness, as well.
1962, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. scheduled a stop in Pasadena … when a larger venue was needed, Westminster stepped forward … and from this pulpit, Dr. King addressed the nation.
In 1970, Pasadena in the throes of desegregation and court orders, the Session went on record in favor of school integration …
On both occasions, dozens of members walked away … but many stayed … we can be proud of our forbearers … even as we’re sad about those who left in protest …
To this very day, Westminster is a church of welcome and affirmation … a church with open doors, open minds, open hearts, and open arms … because God love the world, the whole wide world … a love without boundaries, a love without condition, a love freely given to all.
The words of Jesus say it well: You are the light of the world, and the salt of the earth.
At the center of any church’s life: Soul-searching …
The content of our faith, the depth of our commitment …
But we have to be careful, lest we turn obsessively inward as many a fundamentalist has done … nerve-wracking spiritual assessment … do I believe, and do I believe enough? … do I pray, and do I pray enough? … are my prayers good enough? … do I witness to my neighbors, do I share the gospel, do I truly serve Christ? … what are my innermost thoughts? … woe is me!
The danger here is ME … spelled capital M E … rather than looking at Christ, we look at ourselves … rather than relying upon the grace of Christ, we rely on our own spiritual energies and work … before we know it, we’re all wrapped up in ourselves …
Like taking our blood pressure every three hours, and stepping on the scale after every meal …
vigilance and soul-searching are good things,
but a ceaseless monitoring of our spiritual health becomes counter productive …
Taking us further away from the love of God.
Soul-searching - a necessary element of our faith journey … it’s right and good to ask the big questions, but it’s even more important that we keep our eyes on Christ …
his cradle in Bethlehem,
his cross in Jerusalem,
his words in Galilee …
his message of hope and love.
In our second reading of the day, the disciples are moved by the beauty of the Temple, but it’s Jesus who says, It won’t last! … stone and iron have a limited shelf life … what stands will come down … but God remains God … because God is God, and love is still love.
The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.
When things change, we have a chance for a fresh start.
Can we do it?
Of course we can! Because God is at work in all things for good!
Will it take work?
You bet it will.
Jesus said, Come, and follow me!
The Christian life is an adventure … we don’t know where it will lead, but we know what’s required … to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves
Now is the time for great faith … now is the time for tireless hope … now is the time for love divine.
Carpe Diem … seize the day.
Strike while the iron is hot …
Amen and Amen!
