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Back to Sermon ArchivesJune 28,
2009
The Rev. John H. Emerson, pastor emeritus
Scripture: Psalm 137:1-9; 1 Corinthians 1:10-25;
Luke 4: 14-24, 28-32
Spiritual Stretch Marks of Risk
Apparently someone in cyberspace heard about my planned
sermon title because a week ago Friday I received an e-mail ad promoting a
product guaranteed to reduce un- sightly stretch marks, and enable mature skin
to act like younger, smoother skin while regaining natural elasticity! This is
not exactly what I had in mind for this sermon.
This morning I want us to think about something we face
nearly every day of our lives: the permanence of change and the varying
degrees of risk that almost always accompany change. “Our days,”
mused Henry Ward Beecher, “are a kaleidoscope. Every instant a change takes
place…New harmonies, new contrasts, new combinations of every sort.” The
Jewish Talmud describes it like this: “Would that life were like the shadow
cast by a wall or a tree, but it is like the shadow of a bird in flight.”
It seems to me that to be fully alive is to dance on the
very edge of change where we come face to face with some kind of risk great or
small. If there is any doubt that change involves risk, just ask the protesters
in the streets of Iran or those of us who have been human rights and civil
rights activists from the past to the present time; or ask a couple whose
relationship is in crisis; or the person suddenly diagnosed with a catas-trophic
illness; or someone whose loved one has died; or inquire of those whose
spiritual needs have been wonderfully nurtured by a pastor who now retires and
leaves a void in a meaningful relationship; or inquire of us pastors who go
through our own sorrow in hav-ing to say goodbye and then feel the rush of
excitement mixed with angst in saying hello to the unknown that awaits beyond
the bend in the road.
So how are we doing with the adjustment of a pastoral
change in this church? Statistically, about half of us will adjust easily to
this pastoral transition and the other half of us is finding closure a
challenge. Such times of transition test our Christian com-passion to understand
the other half, and empathy for the pastors both going and coming.
It is also a time for self-reflection and
self-understanding in order to embrace fully what we think and feel, and why.
This process of dealing with change and the attendant risks create the stretch
marks upon our hearts and minds and souls.
It is my view that when a major change occurs affecting
our lives, the common denominator of risk is vulnerability – revealing
authentically who and Whose we are. Through our attitudes and behaviors we
certainly appear spiritually transparent to God and also to perceptive people
around us. Today’s three biblical stories provide examples of vulnerability.
Many of the psalms in the Hebrew Scriptures reveal a
refreshing honesty with God that is not always pleasant. Psalm 137 is
filled with lament over the destruction of Zion, a name sometimes given to the
holy city of Jerusalem. Those Hebrews were taken by their captors to Babylon
(modern day Iraq) and were sad, even depressed, that they felt they could not
practice their faith in that foreign land. They sat down by the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers and wept. Their victim-image turned them to anger, and the
psalmist became vulnerable, revealing a vengeance toward even the innocent
children of Israel’s enemy. How often this has been replayed across the
centuries! They had choices for dealing with such a calamitous change. Their
spiritual stretch marks left scars that needed healing. A lesson I learn from
that story is to take seriously my potential for rage should I ever feel a lack
of control over a calamitous change, and by the grace of God find con-structive
ways to channel off such anger.
The Apostle Paul had his detractors nearly everywhere he
went to start new churches. The fact that Paul stayed a year-and-a-half at
Corinth indicates it was a troubled congregation that needed nurturing (see
Acts 18:11). Paul’s Corinthian correspondence certainly reveals that. After Paul
had left Corinth for Ephesus, to continue his mission of establishing new
churches, he learned that factions had developed in the congregation. His letter
of appeal showed his vulnerability as he complained that the congregation was
dividing Christ. They were vulnerable with regard to playing favorites among
several church leaders – Paul, Peter, and Apollos. But some got it right: the
life and ministry of the church was not about them, but about Christ and
his vision for the church’s mission. Risking the loss of spiritual authority
among many of those people, Paul was true to himself and true to Whose he was –
Jesus Christ. That was his stretch mark. A lesson I take away from Paul’s
experience at Corinth and elsewhere is being very clear that the life and
ministry of the church is not about me and my wants and wishes; it’s about
Christ and his vision.
Our Luke Gospel lesson reminds us that Jesus’
public ministry began with con-troversy in his hometown synagogue. After reading
from the Isaiah scroll, Jesus made himself vulnerable by sitting down to speak,
an act of rabbinical authority in those days. This surprised those who watched
Jesus grow from childhood into manhood. Others were angered by his expanding on
the comment that a prophet is not accepted in his home-town. Jesus ran the risk
of being killed by friends and neighbors because he dared to be true to what God
had called him to be and to do. Their rage blinded them from his goodness, his
godliness. A lesson I find in this story is that if I am to truly follow in the
way of Christ, I must dare to be faithful to who God calls me to be and what God
calls me to do regardless of the consequences. That will be my stretch mark of
risk. I must discern what gifts and graces God has bestowed upon me to be a
responsible member of the Body of Christ, the Church; and to offer those gifts
and graces in humility.
To welcome Judith Bither as our new pastor beginning July
1st does not diminish the gifts and graces John Auer has offered to
magnify the ministry of Christ through this church. Let’s take a moment to lift
up some of his gifts and graces in a word or brief phrase as our thanksgiving to
God. [congregational testimonies were shared].
To honor and remember John Auer’s pastoral leadership
does not diminish the pastoral gifts and graces Judith Bither will bring to our
community of faith. There are a few in our congregation who had Judith as their
pastor elsewhere who may wish to de-scribe the spiritual leadership she will
offer us. [insights were shared].
Just as important is naming the spiritual gifts and
graces we will offer. Can you name some of them as your act of thanksgiving to
God? [congregational sharing].
A vision Jesus offers me is, in spite of changes, to
choose to live my life to help build a world of love, knowing the truth that
“perfect love casts out fear” (1 Letter of John 4:18), and to help build a
human family of mutual understanding and respect, knowing the truth that I must
become the change I seek in the human family. What meaning, purpose is packed
into this vision even though the vision carries with it the spiritual stretch
marks of risk!
What vision does Jesus offer you; and, in spite of
changes and risks, what choice have you made about the vision becoming flesh in
your life?
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