Psalm 51.1-5; Romans 7.15-25a
Good Morning Westminster Presbyterian Church …
I’m glad to be back in town … we had a fine time … our Amsterdam family is well … and now, back to work.
Nothing new about work … the Christian life is a life of work … a work in progress … the quest for truth, enlightenment, the practice of hope, the work of love … to work things out, to live the justice and peace of God, as best we can … reaching beyond ourselves to the infinite mercies of God.
It’s work! to follow Christ.
Jesus invites the first disciples to follow him - he makes it clear: work is ahead … you’re fishing now on the Sea of Galilee, but you’re going to fish for the souls of women and men, you’re going to fish, all the way to the ends of the earth.
When God gave the Commandments to Moses, God made it clear: six days you shall labor …
Did Moses try to negotiate that one? … God, maybe, we could do four days? … well, maybe five, if we have to … six seems a bit extreme.
The rhythm is set … six days for work … and then one day for rest … one day to catch our breath, recalibrate our moral compass, look to God … speak the name of God with reverence and love, sing hymns, listen to a sermon … give the body some rest, give the soul some refreshment …
Because on the morrow, it’s back to work.
We work to make a living, of course … more importantly, we work to make a life … Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go …
When we’re five years old, we work … we work hard, we play hard, because play is work, and work is play for a child … we stomp our feet in puddles of water … we finger-paint, and make a mess … we run, we laugh, experiment with life in all of its wonder and mystery … we skin our knees and bump our noses, and we cry like mad.
We are creatures of work.
We work to make a living, we work to make a life … and in our case, not just any life, but a Christian Life,
a life energized by the Holy Spirit,
a life centered in Christ,
a life devoted to God’s creation.
The Apostle Paul works hard at life … he’s on the margin all the time … hunger, danger, death … he’s put himself all-out for the gospel … because on that Damascus Road, Paul saw the light …
The light blinded him …
It was too much for him, this man who lived in the shadows of his own self-righteousness …
If anyone had good reason for being satisfied, it was Paul … he could point to an entire wall in his home, covered with diplomas and ancestral pedigrees … shelf after shelf of trophies, tributes, and awards … he was at the top of his game … but on the Damascus, Paul discovered something better …
The love, the glory, the grace, of Christ … the call of Christ to work, for the kingdom of God … thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
In our Bible reading this morning, we encounter Paul at work: self-awareness.
The good I wanna do, I don’t … the nasty I don’t wanna do, I do … woe is me.
Paul was feeling what we all feel sometimes, when we take a long, hard, honest, look at our selves …
In the light of Christ, Paul can no longer point to his achievements, his prior work, his abilities … now, he points to Christ … who abruptly changed Paul’s trajectory on that Damascus Road … Paul could no longer take comfort in his achievements … Paul discovered a greater comfort in the love of Christ.
The transition into what is sometimes called Salvation …
No longer tied to ourselves …
no longer tied to our past,
but set free for the future …
for the days that remain to us in this life … and - for the life to come.
Paul the Apostle shouts out to the world: there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ … and who, I ask you, is in Christ?
Just a few of us, a select number of humanity?
That’s how some folks answer the question.
A few are called, a few are chosen, and to hell with the rest.
For me: not some, not a few, but all!
All of humanity encompassed in the work of Christ …
All the world, all the time:
past, present and future …
all of God’s creatures, great and small …
the proud and the broken,
the self-sufficient and those who know they’re not …
those who despise the thought of God,
and those who long to be with God …
all of them - all of me, all of you …
all of us, for God so loves the world!
It’s God’s purpose, God’s work, God’s love … none of it’s easy, not even for God …
God bears the first cross,
God dies for the sins of the world,
God descends into hell to set the captives free …
God lies in the tomb, enfolded by death.
God rolls away the stone.
We’re called to be a part of that work …
Come with me, says Jesus … walk on the sunny side of the street, but even there, take up the cross … challenge the purveyors of hate and lies, the demons of ill will and violence … don’t run from the world, but run into it, bearing the gospel of hope and peace …
From the LA Times:
Hate crimes soared in California in 2022 …
All told, there were 2,120 reported hate crimes, a 20.2% jump from the year prior …
Overall, the number of such events has risen 145.7% since 2013.
State Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta attributed the rising numbers to what he characterized as an encirclement of hate.
“Hate-filled rhetoric fills our social media feeds and dominates the news cycles.”
“It infiltrates our schools and our community gatherings. It seems to be at so many places; it’s so pervasive.”
Here is our work, here is our purpose … in other times and places, other kinds of work and ministry … but here in California, now, and across the broad expanse of our land, the work is clear: the welfare of humanity, lift up the Cross of Christ, proclaim his resurrection, tackle the worst in our world … offer up - the best.
Jesus said: let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
And so it is … the call of Christ, let your light shine, let it sparkle, let it dance … make a difference in this world … celebrate the past by charting a new course for a new day …
A new day at Westminster …
After worship today, a meeting of the congregation, to elect new elders, and to elect a Pastor Nominating Committee … to begin the search for a new pastor.
Hallelujah and Amen!
