You Are the People of God
DATE: December, 27, 2009
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 148, Colossians 3:12-17
The New Testament reading for this morning is Colossians 3:12-17. You may want to open your Bibles to page 201.
The Church at Colossae was in trouble. Paul had learned that there were false teachers among the Colossians who insisted that in order to know God and have full salvation one must worship certain "spiritual rulers and authorities" and submit to special practices and observe strict rules. There were many opportunities for disagreement, bruised relationships, and opportunities for forgiveness.
We are moving into a challenging time in this church where there will also be many opportunities for disagreement, bruised relationships, and opportunities for forgiveness. In today's New Testament reading, Paul will give us advice about how to handle these challenges.
In the first two chapters of this letter Paul answers the false teachers with arguing that Christ, not "spiritual rulers and authorities" is supreme. He says, "Christ is the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created."
On the upper left hand corner of page 200 in your Bible, where it says "The Supremacy of Christ," you'll see a reference to the first five verses of John's Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into being through him. John ends those first five verses saying, "What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people."
Sound familiar? Both Paul and John are talking about Christmas – about the Divine both being present in the darkness before what we would now call the big bang at the dawn of creation. No wonder Ellen read Psalm 148 so beautifully to us just now: "Praise [the Lord], sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars." Both Paul and John are talking about the Divine breaking into the darkness of the World and our lives. Paul's theme in all his letters is that Jesus, through his birth, death, and resurrection, breaks into our lives and makes us new creations.
All this language is very strange to us moderns. What it means in the simplest terms is what we sing at Christmas – Immanuel! God with us! — God with us and IN us, making us new, like a new baby. We're reading this lesson from Colossians this Sunday after Christmas because the good news is that not only are we entering a new year — through our unity with Christ, each of us also brand new!
And — because we are brand new, because we are new creations, we must deal with the conflicts in our church in a special way. That is what Paul is about to tell the church at Colossae in the New Testament reading for this morning. That is the message he has to tell Saugatuck church as we face into the challenges of budget cuts and finding a new minister.
Let us pray. Lord open our ears. Give us ears to hear what Paul said to the people of God at Colossae in the midst of their disagreements. Give us ears to hear what Paul is saying to the People of God at Saugatuck as we move into two very difficult years.
As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in per-fect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
* * *
YOU are the people of God. As Paul says, God has chosen you. You are holy and beloved!
The idea of us being chosen is strange to our modern ears. What could it possibly mean? At this month's Healing Vespers service Jenna Miller chose an opening meditation that expresses it beautifully. Her meditation echoes the first verse of John's Gospel — in the beginning was the Word — a divine intelligence that has known us and chosen us from all eternity.
Precious child of mine, don't you know that you are called and chosen? I completely and thoroughly knew you before you were born. I knew what all of your strengths would be before you took your first step. I knew what all of your weaknesses were before you could comprehend human speech…. I have created and designed you; I know exactly who you are — and I love you dearly.
What an affirmation! It is often SO hard for me to take in and believe this good news that you I am loved dearly by God. Are you like me? Are we able to overcome our self doubts and our "common sense" way of seeing the world and truly hear Paul's message that we are called and chosen?
Henri Nouwen, whom John Danner is fond of quoting, says in his little book Life of the Beloved,
We touch here a great spiritual mystery: To be chosen does not mean others are rejected. It is very hard to conceive of this in a competitive world such as ours. All my memories of being chosen are linked to memories of others not being chosen…. To be chosen as the Beloved of God is something radically different. Instead of excluding others, it includes others. Instead of rejecting others as less valuable, it accepts others in their own uniqueness.
Nouwen then makes a passionate argument for not surrendering the word, "chosen" to the common sense notions of a culture that isn't very aware of day to day experiences of God's love, a culture that doesn't have ears to hear or eyes to see Immanuel, God with us.
When you lose touch with your chosenness, you expose yourself to the temptation of self-rejection, and that temptation undermines the possibility of ever growing as the Beloved.
Paul tells the People of God at Colossae and the People of God at Saugatuck that they are God's chosen ones, holy, and beloved.
* * *
I use the term "People of God" intentionally. Paul is not writing to a bunch of individuals who happen to be living their lives in Colossae early in the first century. He is writing to the Church, — a People.
I'd like you to open your Hymnals and read with me the Saugatuck Church Covenant on the inside front cover. When any member of any Congregational church reads promises to God and before God, as our Puritan forefathers and foremothers on the Mayflower knew, they become a "People."
We the members of Saugatuck Congregational Church acknowledge and celebrate the tangible presence of God in our lives as revealed in Jesus Christ. We recognize that loving faithfulness to God is best manifested in our loving faithfulness to one another and our earth. Therefore, we covenant with God and each other to strive to follow Christ's way, walking with our brothers and sisters in faithfulness to Christ's command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We accept as our responsibility the worship of God, the witness and fellowship of this faith community and the task of life-long education in the faith. We claim as our mission the promotion of justice, peace and human dignity in both word and deed. In all these things we bind ourselves to follow the Holy Spirit as revealed in the scriptures, in tradition and in our own experience.
When a bunch of individuals sunning themselves on a beach suddenly mobilize themselves to save someone in the water calling for help, those individuals are temporarily transformed from a crowd into a "people." But they are not a People of God until they make certain promises to each other and to God — until they covenant with each other and God.
So, welcome all of you who are guests today! If you really mean the promises you just made — even though you're not members of Saugatuck — you have just become part of the People of God!
The "Good News" translation of our reading from Paul today starts out, "You are the People of God; God loved you and chose you for his own." This means God has chosen Saugatuck Church. If it is hard for us to believe that we are beloved and chosen, it is undoubtedly harder to believe that Saugatuck is chosen. Suspend your disbelief for a few minutes. I would like to give you some information that supports this assertion that we are chosen indicates, that to a degree we have accepted our chosenness as a People of God:
This summer and fall the Stewardship Committee conducted a series of presentations on giving trends and our church's financial needs. It's not a pretty story. Last year pledging was off by about $50,000 and we had to let go of our hopes of hiring an Assistant Pastor. During those Stewardship meetings, after looking at the discouraging numbers, each group answered the questions, "What is Saugatuck Church's "positive core?" – "How is the Holy Spirit working uniquely among us?"
There was a striking degree of commonality among the way all the groups answered this question. In these common themes we can hear our People of God saying something extremely important about what it means for Saugatuck to be chosen – especially since their answers line up so closely with Paul's advice to the Colossians. Let's listen to Paul's advice and how well we at Saugatuck seem to be following that advice:
Paul says, "Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." Participants said they FEEL loved in this church. They feel bound or tied together as family. Do any of you feel loved at Saugatuck? I'm seeing heads nodding!
He then says, "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body." An important way we express peace by our being open and affirming, inclusive, non-doctrinal. "Questioning is OK at Saugatuck," said one participant.
Again Paul tells the Colossians: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom." One meeting participant said, "Saugatuck members understand that learning is life long." Others talked about "opportunities to grow spiritually — vespers, retreats, and prayer groups."
Paul advises the People of God at Corinth, "…with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God." And, true to form our People of God talked about vital worship, revitalized children's and youth music programs, and our music.
Paul ends his advice to the Colossians, by saying, "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." A major theme in the Stewardship meetings had to do with our words and deeds — outreach, our missions legacy. Participants mentioned the feasts; a children's program that leads to Christian action; river cleanup; Gillespie House dinners. Our "IN- reach was also stressed — Sharing and caring, Stephen Ministry, and the "Spirit of Saugatuck" group.
In short, Saugatuck's "positive core" fits Paul's advice to the Colossians to a T: People feel loved here, bound together as family, accepted in their theological differences, doubts and questions. We're a teaching and learning church. Our worship and music is vital. We are a People with a strong missions focus, with a compassionate lay ministry to those of our members who suffer.
You, Saugatuck Church members, and you who are here as visitors and guests — you are the People of God — chosen, holy, and beloved. Know how special you are — how uniquely the Holy Spirit is at work among us.
* * *
Those of you who have been following along with your Bibles may have noticed that, so far, I have left out part of Paul's advice to the Church at Colossae, however — verse 13: "Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other…."
We do have things to forgive each other for. There have been bruising discussions about how best to use our capital campaign money – conversations about the boiler and discussions about how to accommodate the Suzuki school to increase our rental income. Feelings were hurt. Forgiveness is still needed.
Even more forgiveness will be needed in Saugatuck's future.
Balancing the budget in the next two months will be a huge challenge! There has been another serious decline in giving. As I said, pledged income declined almost $50,000 from 2008 to 2009; it looks as though we're going to have an even larger drop in 2010. We cut to the bone last year. How can we cut even deeper?
There will be lots of opportunities for disagreement, bruised relationships, and, most likely, forgiveness as we answer that question.
With our Interim Minister, we'll undertake 18 to 24 months of self-examination. What do we want Saugatuck stand for in the future? How will we restructure paid staff? What kind of pastor do we need? There will be lots of opportunities for disagreement, hurt feelings, and forgiveness.
How will we deal with all of the potential conflicts we are facing? Paul was writing to a church in conflict. He has some advice for us, but so does the outgoing General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, the Reverend John Thomas.
A few years ago Rev. Thomas wrote an article about how the UCC can be a united church and still stand for something. When you stand for something, like being open and affirming, there are lots of opportunities for conflict, bruised relationships and opportunities for forgiveness. Here is what Rev. Thomas says about remaining united in the midst of disagreement, quoting Mary Tanner, an Anglican theologian:
…tension and even conflict will always be part of the life of the church this side of the kingdom…. We are called to stick with the pain of difference and live through it….The world with all its divisions is not used to such a possibility as this: that those on opposing sides should stay together, bear each other's burdens, even enter one another's pain."
Paul says it more succinctly: "…clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another…."
The reason why we need to clothe ourselves with compassion, bear with each other, forgive each other is NOT because it's a practical way of dealing with conflict. No. It is because in Christ we are new creations. In each present moment we are born anew!
You may not feel very renewed at the end of the busyness of this Christmas season. You may also be looking forward to 2010 with more than a little dread at the loss of John Danner and all the uncertainties before this church.
No matter how you feel, you are a new creation. In your entrance into the world-wide People of God through your baptism and, for those of you who can honestly in your hearts make the promises of our Church Covenant – you are a new creation. AS that new creation we are chosen, holy, and beloved. And because we are chosen and beloved, we are called to bear with one another, enter into one another's pain, and forgive each other.
As we face into the challenges of balancing our budget, deciding what kind of church we will become, and replacing our pastor – we can fully receive our chosenness and get on with the business of being a People of God who will bear each other's burdens, stay united, and even more fully express the unique strengths of this church.
Frank Basler
Benediction
And now may the courage
of the early morning’s dawning,
the strength of the eternal hills
and wide open fields,
and the silent streams,
the beauty of the flowered gardens,
the love that makes the family
and that alone can build
the peace of the world —
the life that is Christ
and the peace of the evening’s ending
and of the midnight
be with you now and forevermore.