Abundance — life in all
its fullness — the theme of this 216th General Assembly
— the word God has given us this week in our life as the Presbyterian
Church, USA.
Scripture lavishes us with images of abundance.
So much love speaking the world into existence that the only possible response is Good. Creation is very, very good. Abundance.
So much manna falling from heaven that every human being from here to the tip of South Africa has enough. Abundance.
So much sensuality dancing between the Rose of Sharon and her young stag, that the banner of love floats over their banqueting table forever. Abundance.
So much forgiveness flowing out of the wounds of our love besotted Lord that grace heals us all. Abundance.
So much Pentecost Spirit careening out into the streets, that hope recreates the world.
Abundance — life in all its fullness
— the theme of this assembly, and God's word to us.
The church I have seen and loved this past year is a church full to overflowing with the abundance of God's gifts.
600 Presbyterian youth — conservative, liberal and every nuance in between - singing and hugging and dancing down the aisle to share in the joyful feast of the people of God. Abundance
Hundreds of believers in Younde, Cameroon, crowding into Bastos Presbyterian Church on Christmas Eve celebrating 55 infant baptisms, 26 adult baptisms, and 60 confirmations. Abundance.
Safe House for women leaving a life of prostitution
in San Francisco New Genesis, serving out of a church basement
in Denver, rehabilitating 700 homeless men a year-MINC, a coalition
of 20 small churches in Northern, rehabbing houses, itinerating
a portable Vacation Bible School, networking small church youth
— the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, joyfully, tenaciously
working to improve labor conditions for migrant tomato pickers.
All of this Presbyterian love, poured out in Christ's name.
Abundance — life in all its fullness — the
theme of this Assembly — and God's word to us.
Let me remind us why this theme is at the
heart of our work this week. Life In All Its Fullness is the
theme adopted by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, which
will meet next month in Acra, Ghana. And many of those gathering
for this global event will be Presbyterians from around the
world. Last November I had the privilege of traveling with
Setri Nyomi, the General Secretary of the Alliance. As we bounced
along back roads in Cameroon, I asked Setri why the Alliance
is using the word "fullness" for it's theme, instead of the
word "abundance." Jesus says, "I have come that you might have
life in all its fullness" — rather than the more familiar, "I
have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly."
"Well," Setri said, "that was an intentional
decision. You see, here in Africa, the temptation is to mimic
your western love of materialism — to live according
to a theology of prosperity. In Africa," he continued," the
word 'abundance'
is immediately understood as an abundance of things — not
the abundance of spirit and grace that Jesus describes. So,
that's why we chose the word "fullness" instead.
"Ah," I thought, "how sad that one of the
most elegant words in the human language has been co-opted
by our human hunger for stuff." Brothers and sisters, this
week let's reclaim the beauty and the blessing of abundance — the
overflowing fullness, the gracious plenty which spills out
of the heart of our generous Creator .
Our passage this morning, from the 10th chapter
of John, is both intoxicating and confusing — like most
of the good news that God offers us week in and week out. What
we have is an abundant, metaphorical stew:
Jesus is the Voice — the familiar and
firm voice that guides us.
Jesus is the Gate — the narrow opening that
focuses us.
Jesus is the Shepherd — the faithful, dependable
companion who wanders with us through the unpredictable wilderness
of the world.
All of these are images of invitation, of
hospitality, of protection, of God in Christ keeping us safe,
of God in Christ keeping us steady, of God in Christ keeping
us together as the community God has gathered. My reading of
this text this time around was new for me in a significant
way. It is clear in this text that the decision as to who is
invited, who is protected, who is welcome — inside the
gate — this decision is up to the Shepherd. We, as the sheep,
have no say as to who is in and who is out. In fact, this Good
Shepherd named Jesus, makes it clear that there are sheep of
other folds, who may well be invited in to mess up what we
thought we understood as our familiar and homogeneous flock.
Our gospel text this morning simply doesn't solve the problem
of how inclusive or exclusive we are called to be. Why? Because
it is up to God and not us.
Abundance — life in all its fullness — the
theme of this Assembly — and God's Word to us.
I have been surprised and delighted this
year to discover the amazing conglomeration of human creatures
that God has gathered together in this flock we call the PC(USA)
— a much more diverse flock than the one in which many
of us grew up:
I am grateful to my colleague, Hazzan Sunny
Schnitzer, for participating in this service — something
we do frequently together back home in Bethesda. For 38 years
Bradley Hills Presbyterian church and the Bethesda Jewish Congregation
have been "spiritual siblings sharing sacred space" in the
same building. We, at Bradley Hills, are joyfully and distinctly
Christian. And BJC is joyfully and distinctly Jewish. But through
vigorous adult education discussions, and social outreach for
peace in the Middle East, we celebrate our common God, our
common values, and our common convictions. And then we lift
up into the light of the day our deep theological differences.
And all of us grow stronger in our faith because of it.
When I was in Southern California, I met
a couple who will make some of you uncomfortable. Don and Tom
are a gay couple, who have been faithfully partnered for over
ten years. Five years ago they adopted two children — one
of then a crack cocaine baby who had been abandoned by her
mother on the streets of Los Angeles. A couple of years ago,
Don and Tom realized that it was time to find a Sunday school
for their children. And so they began church shopping. They
didn't particularly want to go to their local Presbyterian
Church, because they didn't sense that our denomination was
very welcoming. But they gave it a try, and of course, their
children fell in love with our Sunday School. Don
and Tom have now joined that congregation, so that they can
honor the baptismal promises they made "to raise their children
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
Westminster Presbyterian Church in Spokane,
Washington is one of the over 50% of our churches that has
under 100 members. But this evangelical congregation is a mega-church
if you measure the amount of grace bubbling up within its walls.
On Sunday morning their worshiping community is growing as
they welcome the neighborhood — many of whom are poor or mentally
disabled or suffering from addiction. But it is Monday through
Saturday when the real worship of the congregation — the
liturgy of love — takes place. Christ's Kitchen — a
Bible Study, prayer, and job skill program for welfare women.
Christ's Clinic — volunteer doctors and nurses who offer comprehensive
medical services to the medically uninsured — for $15
a visit. A Clothing Cupboard. A Food Pantry. And a house next
door filled with Whitworth College students, who provide mentoring
and Bible study and hospitality to the children of that neighborhood.
Ay, yes, the rich diversity of our Presbyterian
flock. Abundance — life in all it fullness — the
theme of this assembly — and God's word to us.
But, my friends, there is a tension in our
gospel text this morning. It is the clear word that Jesus is
the gate — and not the others who claim another truth
— the thieves and bandits — or as one commentator
suggests — the imposters. Who are these "other?" Who
are these thieves and imposters who tempt us to find God through
other gates? Well, in my experience, "they" are all of us —
when we proclaim Christ but do not embody Christ. Every preacher
gathered here today knows the background for this text — the
fact that in first century Palestine, the shepherd was indispensable.
He was the one who lay down across the opening every night.
He literally became the gate with his own flesh and blood —
protecting the flock from harm and evil and hurt with the very
courage and the very love of his own life.
And so, any of us who fail to love others
with the very breath and substance of our lives— any
of us who are not willing to lay down our well being for the
sake of others — well, we are like those thieves and imposters that
Jesus describes.
When we are so hell bent on peace that we fail to do the hard work of dialogue and conflict resolution, we rob the church of authentic community.
When we are so hell bent on unity that we turn our back on biblical accountability, we rob the church of integrity.
And when we are so hell bent on purity that
we legalistically destroy the sweetness of the fellowship,
we rob the church of joy. Brothers and Sisters, it is in the
full balance of the three — peace, unity, and purity
— that we begin to experience the abundant life as Jesus offers
it.
As we move forward through this assembly and out into the world, how might we imagine what an abundant church looks like? I believe that an abundant church looks like what we are already becoming by the plentiful grace of God.
An abundant church is a church that joyfully, passionately celebrates worship as the heartbeat of its life together — multi-sensory, multi-cultural — a weekly duet of word and sacrament-worship so energizing that nobody looks at their watch — worship so life — changing that we leave renewed in our baptismal vocation to be the presence of Christ in the world.
An abundant church is a church that celebrates
diversity — including theological diversity. Yes, a church
that understands that God is intentionally at work in the tension
and disagreements that are currently stirring up our life together.
I'll never forget the words of Adam Carlson last summer, one
of the outgoing Co-Moderators of the Presbyterian Youth Connection.
In explaining why he wants to be a Presbyterian, Adam said
it is because we know how to fight — not fight with judgments
of mass destruction, but with the spiritual armor of God —
an invitation to explore out loud the nuances of God's mystery.
An abundant church is a church that is passionate about mission — a church that understands that faith is not just about feeling good, but also about doing good — that being fascinated by Jesus without following Jesus turns him into a celebrity instead of Lord of our lives. Dear Presbyterians, we are called to mission madness — to commit ourselves body and soul to bring Good News to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to give sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free. Anything less fails to witness to the fullness of life lived to the glory of God.
But most of all an abundant church is a church enlivened by hope. The future of the church is not up to us. The future of the church is already real — the living promise of a living Lord enlivened by a Living Spirit.
The most faith changing moment of my moderatorial
year took place in Baranquilla, Colombia. For three days our
small contingent, saw, heard, and felt the danger, the fear,
the suffering, the poverty. the devastation of God's people
in that beautiful but war torn country. 34 Christian pastors
have been killed within the past two years — killed because
they had the courage to speak and pray for peace. Our own global
partners, Iglesia Presbyteriana de Colombia, are receiving
regular death threats because they dare to proclaim God's vision
of justice. We saw hundreds of adults and children who are
poor and homeless in dry, dusty refugee camps — part
of the 4.5 million political refuges displaced by economic
and political violence — God's poorest of the poor —-
abandoned except for the compassion and courage of Presbyterians.
But then, after hearing and seeing so much hard news, we then hard the Good News. For two and a half hours, 500 of us gathered to sing with joy, to pray with passion, to feast with hope. And then we were invited to a party. And my friends, we partied! We ate and drank and laughed and danced, far into the night. And I was stunned.
"How," I asked. "After all the sadness and death and fear that we have experienced these last few days, how can you celebrate?"
And Milton's (Mehia) answer was immediate and clear. "Because," he said, "in a land where desperation grows ever deeper, we are a people of Hope. Because in a culture of death, we are a people of Life. Because, in a country where crucifixion still happens every day, we defiantly proclaim that we are a people of Resurrection."
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