Loading...
Sermon October 18, 2020
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers,
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 24, Year A, Track 2
http://lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp24_RCL.html
Audio Only: /documents/Audio_Only_October_18__2020
Video: https://youtu.be/Dilqd_nPDqw
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. I Thessalonians 1:6-7
One of the most difficult things for me during this pandemic has been not being able to sing. Even as a young child, I made up little songs. Then there was Jr. Choir at church and 6th Grade choir at school, followed by Junior High and High School Choir. I sang in many choirs as an adult.
One of the most formative singing experiences I had was in my church youth group. In the late 1960s, our youth group decided we enjoyed singing with each other so much that we would create a group. We called ourselves Celebration. We practiced about once a week at least. We sang for the church, but also for many other groups around the Harrisburg area. We did sing at a Lutheran Church in New York City once, too.
A couple of the members of the group wrote our signature song, “Celebrate Life.” The refrain was:
Life is groovy,
Life is love.
Celebrate Life…and the Lord above.
Our concerts were a mix of religious, folk, and patriotic music. We had a little notebook with all of the words to the songs in it. I still have mine.
All of the songs were numbered. It was an easy way to put together a program. Song #9 was “They’ll Know We are Christians By Our Love.” I imagine many of you have heard that song. The refrain was:
They’ll know we are Christians by our love
By our love.
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
In today’s reading of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, Paul says the Christian community in Thessalonica became an example to believers everywhere. They received the Gospel with joy and they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. This, even though they faced persecution and were not accepted in their community.
Receiving the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit. Doesn’t that create a beautiful picture of a community?
We know the community certainly had their challenges, but their actions in being a faithful community spread far and wide.
That’s our call today, too, I believe. How do we receive the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit? How do we face or address the challenges of our time when our understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ conflicts with those around us?
One of the things we are doing currently, is having some discussions about a variety of issues that we face during this election time. Today’s topic is about restorative racial justice. After our time together, I have been asked to meet via Zoom with the church where I grew up – Messiah Lutheran – the church that supported the singing group. They have a racial justice committee and they have asked me to talk about my experiences in this area.
They, like we, and most Americans who are White are struggling with this issue of restorative racial justice. Can we hear God’s word of justice with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit? Can we feel the Holy Spirit moving among us urging us to work for justice?
Yesterday at Diocesan convention, Bishop Scanlan continued to invite us into this justice work in a deeper way.
Maybe it’s hard to understand how we receive this work with joy. Yet, when we work for justice, all of us are freed. That’s the joy. That’s the joy of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
They’ll know we are Christians by our love. …You became an example to all the believers.
There is joy in this parish. Great joy. We continue to show our love and are an example to all believers. We have already started receiving thank yous for our Giving To Others Contributions. We have received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit so that many organizations in our region can do their work of love and justice.
We exude the joy of receiving the word by agreeing to provide gifts for over 50 children from 19 families for Christmas. There was the back-to-school effort. There are the grocery gift cards and the extra offerings for Caring for Nativity’s Neighbors.
We invite people in to our facilities to use the space in a safe way to provide food and build community through our garden.
Yes, I miss seeing so many of you and I miss our wonderful coffee hours. It is a hard time in our country for so many. The economy is difficult for so many.
Even so, we show our love…we show we are Christians in so many ways. Not even a pandemic can stop us. We have the joy inspired by the Holy Spirit after all.
Amen
