Loading...Sermon January 15, 2017
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
… to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ… 1 Corinthians 1:2
Please be seated
Last Sunday Jane Hoover spoke to the confirmation class. She was telling Ethan, Lily and Sophia that God’s DNA is in everything. One of the students asked… “even in Isis?” Wow, what a good question and we paused to think about it a little more. Finally the class decided that how we relate to and understand God is how we act in the world. So, if you think God is a destroying God, then you act in ways that destroy others. If you understand God as loving, then that’s how you act in the world.
Yes, we can never fully understand God and know God fully and we are apt to get some things about God wrong and we do our best to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
In our Epistle today, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth and also to the entire church. The Christians in Corinth were struggling to be a true community and followers of Jesus Christ. There were divisions within the community. There were a number of leaders dividing the people. The members had created a hierarchy of spiritual gifts, some being valued more than others. They had created a hierarchy of membership, even. There was arrogance within their community.
Paul’s letter calls them back to their central purpose as followers of Jesus Christ in Corinth. They are all sanctified or set apart as a holy community through following Jesus Christ. Their community as a whole has a calling to be saints…to be holy. They and their sanctified, saintly community is connected to followers of Jesus Christ everywhere.
The community has let their individual human failings get in the way of their central purpose. They have connected too much to the world of Corinth, rather than holding firm to the central community of Christ. We live in this world and are not of this world. We follow Jesus Christ who tells us to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. The world often tells us to act upon our own individual self interest.
Today would have been Dr. Martin Luther King’s 87th birthday. At Parlor People, we will be hearing a portion of his “Letter From the Birmingham Jail.” Dr. King had gone to Birmingham to support and to lead the residents who were Black in undoing the racist Jim Crow laws then in effect. In April of 1963, a group of ministers who were White and in many ways in agreement with Dr. King, wrote a letter asking the residents of Birmingham to not participate in the demonstrations and nonviolent direct action efforts for civil rights. Dr. King had been jailed for a march he participated in on that day. Dr. King was shown the letter from these clergy and the result was this letter of reply.
In that letter, Dr. King challenges the church. He notes that the early Christian church was powerful, because even though small, it challenged the power structures of its time.
“Wherever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being ‘disturbers of the peace’ and ‘outside agitators.’ …They were small in number but big in commitment. …They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest.” (Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., p. 300)
He went on to say that the church is different in contemporary times, often supporting the status quo.
“Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.” (Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., p. 300)
It’s truly a challenge for us as a church to be those saints Paul reminds us we are…to truly follow Jesus Christ...to truly know Christ in deeper ways and to live out our followship in this world. We are continually asked to make the decision and the choice. Our confirmands were right… our actions tell the world how we understand who God is, because our actions are a reflection of our understanding of God.
Dr. King in a version of the Letter expressed his disappointment in the White churches:
“On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at her beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlay of her massive religious education buildings. Over and over again, I have found myself asking: ‘What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? …Where were they when Governor Wallace gave the clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when tired, bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?”
Will we bring an end to evil? Will we be involved in shaping the power structures of our time so that they reflect Jesus’ teaching or will we be silent? Will people know who our God is? Will people know what kind of people we are who worship here? Will our voices be heard in support of all who are tired and bruised and working for freedom and justice?
We as The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints. Let our purpose and our actions reflect this calling.
Amen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__cT397uOak&feature=youtu.be
