Uppity Women Create the Future

Exodus 1:8-2:10 A new king came to power in Egypt who didn't know Joseph. 9 He spoke to his people in alarm, "There are way too many of these Israelites for us to handle. 10 We've got to do something: Let's devise a plan to contain them, lest if there's a war they should join our enemies, or just walk off and leave us." 11 So they organized them into work-gangs and put them to hard labor under gang-foremen. They built the storage cities Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. 12 But the harder the Egyptians worked them the more children the Israelites had—children everywhere! The Egyptians got so they couldn't stand the Israelites 13 and treated them worse than ever, crushing them with slave labor. 14 They made them miserable with hard labor—making bricks and mortar and back-breaking work in the fields. They piled on the work, crushing them under the cruel workload.

 15 The king of Egypt had a talk with the two Hebrew midwives; one was named Shiphrah and the other Puah. 16 He said, "When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the sex of the baby. If it's a boy, kill him; if it's a girl, let her live." 17 But the midwives had far too much respect for God and didn't do what the king of Egypt ordered; they let the boy babies live. 18 The king of Egypt called in the midwives. "Why didn't you obey my orders? You've let those babies live!" 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "The Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian women; they're vigorous. Before the midwife can get there, they've already had the baby." 20 God was pleased with the midwives. The people continued to increase in number—a very strong people. 21 And because the midwives honored God, God gave them families of their own. 22 So Pharaoh issued a general order to all his people: "Every boy that is born, drown him in the Nile. But let the girls live."

 2:1 A man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman. 2 The woman became pregnant and had a son. She saw there was something special about him and hid him. She hid him for three months. 3 When she couldn't hide him any longer she got a little basket-boat made of papyrus, waterproofed it with tar and pitch, and placed the child in it. Then she set it afloat in the reeds at the edge of the Nile.

 4 The baby's older sister found herself a vantage point a little way off and watched to see what would happen to him. 5 Pharaoh's daughter came down to the Nile to bathe; her maidens strolled on the bank. She saw the basket-boat floating in the reeds and sent her maid to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the child—a baby crying! Her heart went out to him. She said, "This must be one of the Hebrew babies." 7 Then his sister was before her: "Do you want me to go and get a nursing mother from the Hebrews so she can nurse the baby for you?" 8 Pharaoh's daughter said, "Yes. Go." The girl went and called the child's mother. 9 Pharaoh's daughter told her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me. I'll pay you." The woman took the child and nursed him. 10 After the child was weaned, she presented him to Pharaoh's daughter who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses (Pulled-Out), saying, "I pulled him out of the water."

 Today, as we continue to follow the readings from the Hebrew scriptures, (we’ll be preaching from these texts through October), we move from the great sagas of patriarchs and matriarchs we have been reading in past weeks to the defining story of the people of Israel: the Exodus. 

Matthew 16:13-20

August 24, 2008  Uppity Women Create the Future  St. Luke Church

Two midwives, Shiprah and Puah risked their lives lying to the ruler of all of Egypt. Pharoah had been told that a savior was to be born who would liberate the people of IsraelEgypt. Terrified at this threat to his power, he ordered the midwives to kill all male babies, to let only female babies live. Shiphrah and Puah could not for a second imagine killing the hope of these families, contradicting every part of their training and every instinct of their bodies and souls. They didn’t entertain the idea for an instant. from their oppression in

 They agreed together to tease the Pharaoh with a witty story - the Hebrew women are so vigorous that they give birth before we arrive. It’s all a big joke on the most powerful ruler of the day, Pharoah.
 Shiprah and Puah surely thought of themselves as insignificant people in the drama of history, yet they set the stage for the pivotal scene of the Exodus. They make possible through their civil disobedience, the freeing of the Hebrew people from slavery, the birth and life of Moses, the liberator of Israel.

 The story that Fred read this morning is the beginning of the story of the Exodus – the beginning of the life of a liberator/savior, Moses. It is the story of two kinds of power – the power of the Pharaoh and the power of the midwives. The power of Pharaoh is how we usually think of power – the authority of a ruler, ruling by force or by election, wielding power over people – telling them what they have to do. Pharaoh represents the pinnacle of human power – someone who controls worlds and the fate of entire groups of people.

 The midwives on the other hand, along with Israel and the Levitical mother of Moses represent the power of God’s promise. These people do not control worlds; in fact, they do not even control their own destinies. Yet, as we saw last week, the Hebrew scriptures continually claim that these ordinary people claimed by God have a kind of power that fill Pharaohs with dread. They have the power to resist, the power to say no, and, touched by God’s blessing, they have the power to raise up an alternative vision, nurturing a generation of resistance and alternatives to the empire. They choose to serve God and to subvert the plans of Pharaoh.

 Today, we celebrate uppity women – women like the midwives who consciously or unconsciously nurture God’s alternative kinds of power – even in the church. The entire history of the Christian church documents the importance and the blessing of women’s leadership. They are named by name in many of Paul’s letters to the early church, thanking them for their talents and their dedication. These women have formed the backbone of many congregations – even ones that did not allow them in the pulpit or in positions of leadership. From their positions as ushers in the back of the church or cooks in the church kitchen, teachers in the Sunday Schools or leaders of women’s groups, these women wielded their power deftly, quietly and firmly, letting new pastors know how things are done, caring for generations of leadership.

 We celebrate the women of the community as well. Dorothy Johnson Speight is the founder and president of a group called “Mothers in Charge.” Dorothy’s son Khaaliq was killed by a handgun in 2001 when he was 24 years old. Someone had parked in his neighbor’s parking space and the man took it as Khaaliq’s offence and responsibility. Dorothy was heart broken, bereft. She could have disappeared in her grief, but she met another mother who had a son killed for just as stupid a reason and together to form a group to support other mothers who were having similar experiences. Unfortunately, she found a lot of company. Mothers in Charge now has over 400 members and has moved from personal support to advocacy against violence of all kinds. Dorothy reaches out every day to families who have lost a loved one to violence. She speaks to groups all over the region about the need to support the families of victims and perpetrators of violence. She was chosen last year by Philadelphia Magazine as 2007’s Best Philadelphian.

 Today, I also want to celebrate the leadership of Betsy Monahan at St. Luke. She is in the process of a move to a retirement home to live closer to family – the other part of her family. Betsy will always be part of our family. I am under strict instructions that she doesn’t want to have any fanfare or public farewell, but we have to say today that she have made a major difference in this church – as treasurer, as a trustee, as someone who cares about every aspect of church life, and as nudge who made sure things that needed to get done got done. 

 Betsy is too busy packing to come to church today – and that’s saying something, because she has rarely missed church over the decades that she has been part of St. Luke. We send blessings with her as she goes.

 Shiphrach and Puah, Dorothy Johnson Speight, and Betsy Monahan are just a few examples of uppity women who have changed the future because of their vision, dedication, and tenacity. They are an inspiration to the girls in our church, and to us all. We all may be part of God’s alternative vision for the future, as we take that inspiration into our lives and listen for God’s call.

Responsive hymn 2120 Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness

 Relationships Renewed 

Genesis 45:1-15 Joseph couldn't hold himself in any longer, keeping up a front before all his attendants. He cried out, "Leave! Clear out—everyone leave!" So there was no one with Joseph when he identified himself to his brothers. 2 But his sobbing was so violent that the Egyptians couldn't help but hear him. The news was soon reported to Pharaoh's palace. 3 Joseph spoke to his brothers: "I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?" But his brothers couldn't say a word. They were speechless—they couldn't believe what they were hearing and seeing. 4 "Come closer to me," Joseph said to his brothers. They came closer. "I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt. 5 But don't feel badly, don't blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. 6 There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years—neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance. 8 So you see, it wasn't you who sent me here but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt. 9 "Hurry back to my father. Tell him, 'Your son Joseph says: I'm master of all of Egypt. Come as fast as you can and join me here. 10 I'll give you a place to live in Goshen where you'll be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and anything else you can think of. 11 I'll take care of you there completely. There are still five more years of famine ahead; I'll make sure all your needs are taken care of, you and everyone connected with you—you won't want for a thing.' 12 "Look at me. You can see for yourselves, and my brother Benjamin can see for himself, that it's me, my own mouth, telling you all this. 13 Tell my father all about the high position I hold in Egypt, tell him everything you've seen here, but don't take all day—hurry up and get my father down here." 14 Then Joseph threw himself on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 15 He then kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Only then were his brothers able to talk with him.

 Today we are going to look at the second part of the Joseph story we started last week. I had said we would also look at the fifth of the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, but I’m going to save the fifth practice, “extravagant generosity” for later in the fall. Our Gospel reading from Matthew today perplexes people of faith who emphasize the perfection of Jesus, because Jesus seems to learn from a foreign woman in this story. I’ve preached about it several times in past years and we studied it with the LIFE group leaders this week. It’s a shame to read it without more explanation, but suffice it to say that even Jesus learned things and grew to accept people outside his own circle. Listen:

Matthew 15: 21-28  

 August 17, 2008  Relationships Renewed St. Luke UMC

 Joseph had acted like a jerk. He had spied on his brothers when they were working and told his father stories to get them in trouble. Jacob, Joseph’s father, had acted like a jerk. He had let everyone know that the youngest son was his favorite and shown that favoritism through the coat he gave him and by treating him as special, letting him get away with not doing any work. Joseph’s brothers had acted like jerks – conspiring to kill him and only as an afterthought, selling him into slavery. They had probably felt guilty over the years over what they had done to Joseph, but they had never confessed to their father or told him that they had been the cause of his great heartache.

 Everybody in this long story (it started way back in the 37^th chapter of Genesis and here we are at the climax in chapter 45) acted like jerks. No wonder our parents group finds Genesis, as they have begun reading the Bible from the beginning – no wonder they have found Genesis hard to read, accept & understand. People act like jerks!

 But actually that’s what people throughout history have cherished about these amazing stories – they show people acting in the same way people around us act all the time. People act like jerks – so often they show favoritism, they are lazy, they betray a brother or sister and do anything they can to get out of the consequences of their actions – lying, hiding, avoiding the truth.

 And yet, we get here to chapter 45, after pages and pages of people acting like jerks and something remarkable happens. It all comes to a head as the brothers stand in front of Joseph and he can hold it in no longer. He sends everybody out and he starts to cry and he says, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” The one they thought was dead is alive! This changes everything. The terror and astonishment of the brothers is like that of the women who find out that Jesus is alive. Everything in the family has changed, the future of the people of Israel gains new possibilities. But the brothers still don’t know whether there is a complete break with the past. They are terrified of the consequences they deserve.  

 But Joseph does break with the past. Despite what the brothers deserve, Joseph says, “Do not be dismayed. Do not be angry with yourselves, because you sold me here.” He lays it right out in front of them. There are no direct words of forgiveness, no words of reconciliation, the language is too spare – just this reconfiguration of future possibilities. Do not be dismayed or angry with yourselves.

 And then he says the most remarkable thing of all. In this story that has been filled with some of the most despicable actions that human beings ever do with each other, at the end of this sordid tale, all of a sudden Joseph says something that even he may never have thought of before. It just seems to pop out of his mouth in this moment of reunion and new possibility. He says, “do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life…God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.”

 What seemed like death turns out to be God’s way to life. The guilt of the brothers and the grief of the father and the revenge Joseph might have wanted all are resolved in this sudden understanding that God was at work all the time, that God somehow uses human foibles and failures to move forward the history of the earth. It’s like God says to Fred Vivino, “I want you to represent my team in 200 meter butterfly. You’ll be racing against this Michael Phelps guy. How do you think you’ll do?” God does not count on human beings being talented enough to win 8 gold medals at a time. God works through everyday, flawed people who do things that everyday flawed people do. In fact, faith history relies on people like that – people like us. It’s as though God could have Rick Hellberg running the 100 meters against Usain Bolt.

 The people of Israel looked back on the flawed figures of Jacob and Joseph and saw God working through them, making history through them, changing the course of the world through their lives. When we hear God’s call to live, to love, to forgive, to reconcile with our family, to work despite high odds, how can we say no? No – we forgive, we love, we live for God’s purpose in our lives, God’s possibilities – now.

Responsive hymn 2169 God, How Can We Forgive

 What Will Become of Your Dreams? 

August 10, 2008   St. Luke UMC

 My friend Phil, a high school student at the time, walked in the pastor’s office and told him that he wanted our youth group to get involved in some of the mission work the pastor was involved with. The pastor looked at him and told him about several things he could use help with – “We could use help with the mailings, stuffing envelopes and putting on postage, that kind of thing.” Phil said he was thinking of something a little more involved than that. Rev. Atha said that the group could help to spread the word about the people of Columbia, South America, and their ministries there. “You could talk to some other churches, if you want,” he said. 

 “We could do that, but I was thinking of something a little more daring than that,” said Phil. He was starting to get up to leave, when Rev. Atha jokingly said, “Well, you could build a school for the children of Columbia. That would only cost about $30,000!” Phil sat back down. “That’s the kind of thing I have in mind,” he said. And he started the campaign the next month. That’s was 1970, and Phil and our youth group led the church that year in raising $30,000 to build a school for Maria in Columbia. It was a risk and a challenge.

 The church is a place where we are meant to take those kind of risks for God’s mission and service. As I say, that is the 4^th practice of fruitful congregations: Risk-taking mission and service. The first 3 that we talked about before I went on vacation this summer are 1) Radical hospitality, 2) Passionate worship, and 3) Intentional faith development. We welcome people (going out of our way); we worship together (passionately, urgently); we nurture each other in faith (intentionally, and systematically), and then we send each other out in risk-taking mission. We dream together about what we think God wants our world to be like, and we work together to make that dream a reality, even when it seems a bit fool-hardy.

 Now, I want to talk first of all about the risk of mission projects that the church often takes on. The church often goes in to places where people are poor, with different cultural values and customs, and we act as though we know what needs to happen and they don’t. We use our resources in ways that can be embarrassing or off-putting to local people. We sometimes act as though they aren’t even there, we’re so confident about our mission and our right to do be helpful. And then we wonder why people we are supposedly helping aren’t sufficiently grateful for all our magnanimous help. 

 We’re like Joseph with the long-sleeved coat, daring to do a little work, when his brothers have always done 95% of everything, and then he wonders why his brothers want to get rid of him. He is the dreamer, and he thinks so highly of himself, that his dreams are all about how his brothers bow down to him. We can be like that in the way we approach mission projects. And when we see the reactions we get, and when we realize how fraught the projects are with pitfalls, resentment, difficulty, money spent unwisely and extravagantly (seldom the most efficient way to achieve concrete results) and even risks that we are hurting more than we are helping – we may decide not to bother, that it is not worth the risk.

 But risk-taking mission and service for God’s work in the world is what we are called to do. It is what our radical hospitality leads to; it’s part of what our passionate worship celebrates; it is what our intentional faith development prepares us for. We are called to dream and take the risk that even though our work may get fouled up, even though we will make serious mistakes; that somehow God will redeem our feeble efforts and make them work. We are called to keep dreaming and hoping that our dreams will align themselves with God’s dreams for this world.

 God works through mission that sometimes would be more efficiently done by just sending money. But mission initiatives often change the lives of those who receive help – with new relationships and understandings, and new hope in their lives that people really care. Hands-on mission projects change the lives of volunteers. We gain perspective about our own culture; we learn about our extravagance, privilege, consumerism, materialism and waste. Countless pastors discerned their call to ministry through their work on a mission project. Retired people have rededicated their lives to ministry; college students have changed careers; so many have figured out what they want to be when they grow up by growing in mission.

 Vibrant, fruitful, growing congregations push beyond ordinary service and everyday missions to offer extraordinary, risk-taking opportunities for life-changing engagement with other people. One of the best things we did as a church in this past year was to go to New Orleans. Lives were changed on that mission trip. It’s time to start planning our next project.

 I proposed to Rev. Donna Jones yesterday that our two churches work together again on a mission project closer to home – where we would raise similar amounts of money, but use more of it for the actual work of mission rather than for travel expenses. She was enthusiastic about the idea, so we’ll see where it leads together, how we are stretched through God’s love, and how God will work through our feeble and flawed efforts to change lives.

Responsive hymn 129 Give to the Winds Thy Fears

“Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some thirty, some sixty, some a hundredfold. Let anyone with ears listen!”

July 13, 2008   Invitation to Abundance   St. Luke UMC

 At this time of year the gardens all around the church just about reach their peak. It seems like there are flowers at every corner – the prayer garden, the “Pastor David” garden by the garage, the gardens along the path and on the side of the church. Our garden in our front yard is spectacular this year – with lilies, zinnias, and portulacas in bright oranges, reds and golds. I love it.

 I often think about how we are, most of us, only a generation or two removed from people who depended on farming for their lives. They understood this parable immediately, just as Jesus’ hearers did, and realized that it had wonderful double and triple meanings. The sower could represent Jesus; the soil or the seed could be different types of hearers or learners or followers.

 But let’s not make it too complicated. Let’s just give it the simplest interpretation: Let’s say the seed on the path stands for people who totally ignore God. Some of them do not go to Sunday school or worship. Others go, but pay no attention. In either case, they ignore God. The seeds on the rocky ground stand for people who love to go to church on Sunday, know all the stories about Jesus and sing about God's love, but give up quickly when hard disciples' work is needed at home, on the team, or among friends. The seeds that are choked out stand for the people who have decided that always winning and having great clothes, wonderful toys, and popular friends is more important than love and sharing. The seed in the good soil stands for those who hear about God and are disciples every day.

 The surprise in the passage, understood by farmers, and perhaps lost on our modern ears, is that the seeds in the good soil yield thirty, sixty, one hundred fold. That’s an enormous yield. Good seeds, I’m told usually yield about 12 fold. So 60-100 fold is outrageous abundance. That’s what we receive if we open ourselves completely to the spectacular power and gift of God’s love and God’s word.

 That’s what happens in our churches when we feast on God’s word week after week in Bible studies, LIFE groups, worship, prayer times, and in our Children’s Celebration. The last 2 weeks, we have been examining the 5 Practices of Fruitful Congregations. The first week we looked at Radical Hospitality and how Christ’s gracious invitation invites and welcomes us. Last week we explored how important passionate worship is to our faith practice, how passionate worship opens our hearts to Christ’s love and grace, creating in us a desire to follow, to be disciples, to go deeper in our questions, our study, and our growing. Today, we want to follow those 2 basic steps with the core practice of “Intentional Faith Development.”

 Healthy, fruitful, vibrant churches have many ways to practice intentional faith development. Jesus encouraged his followers in the first century. John Wesley systematized faith development in class meetings which supported and challenged people in the growth of their faith. And today, we continue to find new ways to encourage, support, and challenge each other.

 Bible study as we do it after church and in our LIFE groups is not just about self-improvement and personal growth. There can be an element of that in our support and challenge for each other, especially as we remind each other of the vows we took when we joined the church. But our meetings together go deeper than that. They are about placing ourselves where God can shape us, intentionally opening ourselves to God’s presence and God’s calling. The relationships and trust we have in each other help us to hear and to change our lives toward that presence and calling.[p. 65 five practices]

 As we open ourselves and listen to the stories of faith with others, we discover that our questions, doubts, temptations, and missteps are not unusual, but are part of the journey. We get emboldened to be more honest in our questions and searching, more open to new ways of thinking and to old wisdom renewed in our midst.

 Let me say a word about why these LIFE groups, women’s groups, study groups, and so forth are so important – and why I encourage everybody in the congregation to be part of a least one group. When we get together with other people and talk about our faith and listen for God’s guidance, there’s a natural accountability in that process. When we try to do it all by ourselves, it’s very easy to let it go, to not accept the level of challenge we are receiving, to not follow through on difficult questions or issues. When we are in a group with other people, we agree to follow-through in a much more systematic and consistent way.

 The groups we have here at St. Luke are intimate and varied, with different levels of commitment and connection. Every one of them is important, and every one- for all ages, gender groups, stage of life groups, provide a door for people who have heard the invitation of radical hospital, and experienced passionate worship, to go a little deeper, to connect with people who are also on the way, learning to hear and to find their path of faith. Having lots of those doors open for friends and visitors who come through this place is key – having meals together, doing mission together, doing stretching of body and mind together, thinking about our children together, praying and studying together. We always want to be aware of opening our circles to new people, not just get together with these folks that we are comfortable with. We also want to try new things each year – willing to fail at some things, because we know that some projects do not fall on fertile soil, while other ideas or ventures will take root in the good soil and yield 60 or a hundred fold over generations.

 I invite you today to look around the congregation and think for a moment about someone you might like to connect with more in a LIFE group or Bible study. If you are not in one of our groups, help us think about one that would serve your needs – support you in thinking about aging parents or growing children, health problems or personal questions. I will gladly support anyone here to connect with a few others any way we can.

 And finally, we will always remember what we are doing – placing ourselves in the hand of God so that God can sculpt our souls and recreate us in the image of the Living God in Christ. As we deepen and broaden our connections with each other, we give God a better chance to find our fertile soil, to nurture our faith, to create abundant yields in our ministry – 30, 60, one hundred fold!

Responsive hymn 707 Hymn of Promise

June 22, 2008  Making Disciples

Genesis 21:8-21  Today I will deliver the first of a two-part sermon on a sometimes neglected topic that used to be known as “evangelism” or reaching out to new people. I’d like to read the Matthew reading from The Message:

Matthew 10:24-39 "A student doesn't get a better desk than her teacher. A laborer doesn't make more money than his boss. 25 Be content—pleased, even—when you, my students, my harvest hands, get the same treatment I get. If they call me, the Master, 'Dungface,' what can the workers expect? 26 "Don't be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. 27 So don't hesitate to go public now. 28 "Don't be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There's nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands. 29 "What's the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. 30 He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! 31 So don't be intimidated by all this bully talk. You're worth more than a million canaries.  32 "Stand up for me against world opinion and I'll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. 33 If you turn tail and run, do you think I'll cover for you?

 34 "Don't think I've come to make life cozy. I've come to cut— 35 make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. 36 Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. 37 If you prefer father or mother over me, you don't deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don't deserve me. 38 "If you don't go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don't deserve me. 39 If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me.  

June 22, 2008 Making Disciples St. Luke UMC

 “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World” – that is the core goal and mission statement of the United Methodist Church. When I first heard it, I thought it sounded a bit stilted, - like whoever made it up was trying to make us into heavy-handed evangelists in a way that felt uncomfortable to me. I’ve seen some others roll their eyes when they’ve heard the statement as well. 

 Some people seem to get stuck on the first part – “making disciples for Jesus Christ:” They might be more comfortable with the goal stated the way I heard it at our annual conference, “Making Disciples for the transformation of the world.” But for others that second part is what sounds kind of annoying. When I realized this goal has something in it to offend just about everybody, I started to pay more attention. It’s starting to grow on me.

 After all, what do you think our main goal is as a church – to enjoy nice music and take care of our children? To pray for the sick and get inspired by a good sermon? No, our main goal as a church is to raise people from the dead – to help people come to understand how their lives can be changed by connecting with the power and love of God through Jesus, and yes, making the world a different place through the spreading of that amazing good news.

 Now, I admit that all this sounds like a little much. It is true that we risk going a little out of our comfort zone talking to people about God, and Jesus, and having your life changed through their work in our lives. That’s what our passage is talking about this morning – about how risky and dangerous this kind of talk (and action) is – about how it can separate people from their own family and get yourself laughed at or ostracized by bullies.

 The only reason you would ever do such a thing, the only reason you would ever aim to transform the world through encouraging people to become disciples, followers, activists for God through Christ is if have experienced the power of that transformation yourself! I would venture to say that most of us who come here week after week and pour so much of our time and energy into God’s church, do so not because we like each other’s company, but because God has touched our lives at some point in a way that makes us grateful, and want to stay in touch with that divine power.

 We risk the disdain or disapproval of friends or neighbors (though we try to be as sensitive as we can) because we know that people need to know God loves them, that they are of supreme value to God (even down to the hairs on our head) and that their life has significance. People need to know that they are not alone, that when they face life’s difficulties, they are surrounded by a community of grace; and that they do not have to figure out entirely for themselves how to cope with family tensions, self0doubts, periods of despair… People need to know the peace that runs deeper than an absence of conflict, the hope that sustains them even through the most painful periods of grief, the sense of belonging that blesses them and stretches them and lifts them out of their own preoccupations… People need a sustaining sense of purpose. [Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, p. 18]

 If folks already have that kind of sustaining love in their lives, that’s great – you might want to hear about it from them and how it works for them. They might be able to add some insight into your spiritual journey, but if they don’t – and 40 to 60 percent of people have no faith community to call home, a majority of folks where we live or where we work have no clergy person to call on when they face an unexpected grief or difficulty – and if they don’t have a place to learn about the essentials of peace, justice, genuine repentance, forgiveness, love and unmerited grace, you would think they would really appreciate you taking the risk to listen to them about the difficulties in their lives and to let them know about where you find sustenance in your life.

 Now I know St. Luke is a friendly church. Everybody says so, and I think that is genuinely true. Every church thinks of themselves as a friendly church – and they usually are at least friendly to each other, or at least some of each other. That closeness to each sometimes gets in the way of remembering that someone visiting the church might need something more than a welcome and a bulletin.

 That’s what we’re going to talk about next week – how to practice radical hospitality to the stranger and the newcomer. For today, I just want to reflect on why you have become a disciple, what has given you reason to proclaim the good news, what God has done in your life – whether it be an experience at summer camp 20 years ago, or the friendship and care of one or two other people, even people you may have met here at St. Luke. Those experiences are the gift of God, the gospel, the good news working in our lives. And those experiences call forth a personal responsibility in us to be disciples, and to give that gift to one or two others – not to create a program or a strategy or a meeting – so we complain about what someone else didn’t do, but to take our own personal responsibility for maturing our faith, becoming a disciple, and helping another on the way – knowing that it’s one step on the way to transforming the world.

Responsive hymn 2146 His Eye Is on the Sparrow