In which we consider Dodge and God.

It's touching. It's emotive. It's gut-wrenching if it's a life you live every day, I have no doubt.

It's Dodge's Super Bowl 2013 Ram truck commercial.

I have no problem with commercials being emotive. I cry for commercials. I'm that kind of guy. But I recognize that the point of the heartstring-tugging is ultimately to push product. The test of quality of a commercial is not whether it makes a difference in the world, but whether it makes a difference to million- and billionaire stockholders.

That's why Dodge's commercial bugs me.

Forget the problem of Paul Harvey's theology. Forget that it neglects Genesis 3:17 in favor of glorifying of one of the world's more maligned professions. I appreciate farmers, too. I'm a huge fan of buying and eating locally. I support our local Farmer's Market, and my family has made a first attempt at gardening, ourselves. We'll do it again next season. But forget that.

What bugs me is that Dodge is using the name of God to sell product. It is not excusable by simply claiming that at least Dodge is putting God's name in the public sphere. If anything, that's worse. Using God's name as a selling point makes a mockery of God. It reduces God to an advertising tool. It is a use of the name of God that is unrelated and contrary to the nature of God. It serves greed instead of generosity. It serves the rich rather than the poor. It takes the name of God, in short, in vain.

And that's a problem.

I know there are other problems with commercials. I know that objectification of women and glorification of alcohol and idolatry of product are major problems in commercials. I get that. I'm not minimizing that.

But Dodge's commercial is subtle and subversive enough that Christians are praising it.

Christians are praising the idolatry and blasphemy of Dodge's commercial without knowing they're doing it.

We need to be very careful about how desperate we are to make God's name known. We need to make sure we aren't misrepresenting our Savior and our Hope. We need to be very clear about what's appropriate and what's not.

And we need to be very clear in calling this commercial what it is. It is idolatry. It is a vain use of God's name. It is blasphemy.

I Have Called You by Name; a sermon for the Baptism of Christ

Luke 3.15-17,21,22

¹⁵ The people were filled with expectation, and everyone wondered whether John might be the Christ. ¹⁶ John replied to them all, “ I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out. ”

²¹ When everyone was being baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened ²² and the Holy Spirit came down on him in bodily form like a dove. And there was a voice from heaven: “ You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness. ”

Let the words of my mouth

and the meditations of my heart

be pleasing to you,

LORD , my rock and my redeemer.

Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are mine.

There are days that I’m really in need of some good news, some comfort. And not every day that I need it do I manage to find it. Do you have that experience?

Faced with the weight of concerns around me, the number of things that need to get done, my inadequacy for the task at hand, I’d say those days happen more often than other days.

And maybe that’s why I try to practice morning prayer.

I started in seminary. I knew I had to get through Atlanta traffic in time to get to orientation at Candler, and I knew I wanted to be early, and I noted that Candler offered a thing called Morning Prayer at 7:30.

So I showed up at 7:20 or so, met my friend Keith Oglesby for the first time, and joined a rather large crowd for a completely new experience.

We read the Psalm responsively, we heard the Gospel, we prayed collects appropriate for the day, we shared our concerns and voiced the concerns of our community and of our world, and we were blessed to go out into the day in God’s presence.

And that beginning time not only introduced me to people who would become life-long friends, but it introduced me to a new way of celebrating time, and it washed me in a peace that I desperately needed between facing Atlanta traffic and the stress of post-graduate work in theology and holy practices.

Washed clean at the beginning of the day. That’s how I like to start the day, anyway. I’m a morning shower person.

Beginning my day that way is a source of comfort. The routine and the cleansing helps me.

And some days, when I say morning prayer, I’m desperate for that comfort. Sometimes it’s in the scripture; sometimes it’s in the prayers or collects of the day; sometimes it’s in the still space when I’m naming off our concerns and listening for God’s voice. And sometimes I’m so distracted that I can’t quite find that comfort.

But it’s almost every day that I need to hear something like Isaiah offers us today:

Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are mine.

Speak those words with me this morning:

Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are mine.

I suspect that when Jesus went to John at the Jordan (Jesus-John-Jordan. That’s fun.), he knew what was in store. I suspect that going to John (Jesus-John-Jordan) wasn’t just a formality. Maybe Jesus needed that washing, that comfort, that reuniting with the First Person of the Godhead, in preparation for the rush of what was to come.

And I think that what Jesus hears, and what the people hear also, after his baptism, is very similar to Isaiah’s proclamation. Maybe not in detail, but in sense.

You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.

Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are mine.

Don’t fear. No matter how busy you get. No matter how overbearing your boss seems. No matter how bad that last fight was. No matter how deep the grief is, don’t fear: I have redeemed you.

I have claimed you. I am bringing you home. I am affirming you. I am telling you, I have created you exactly the way I have created you and I love you exactly that way. I named you. I claim you.

You are mine.

When you pass through the waters, through grief, through fear, through fire, I will be with you. I will heal you. I know the world has set up some awful stuff, and people treat each other like mud. Don’t fear. I am with you.

I have called you by name.

And I love you.

I know your life is in shambles; your family is in disarray; your friends are forsaking you. But I promise you,

From the east I’ll bring your children;

from the west I’ll gather you.

I’ll say to the north, “ Give them back! ”

and to the south, “ Don’t detain them. ”

And I want you to help me. I want to give you the chance to be my hands and feet, my voice of hope and comfort to my children whom I’m gathering back to myself.

I have named you. I have not only named you, but I have called you by name.

I am calling you today.

Lord, call us. Help us hear you. Help us listen. Melt our hearts hardened by bitterness and grief. Break our hearts for your beloved, for your people in every time and place.

Call us today.

Remind us of our baptism. Remind us that you have brought us through the waters for a purpose. For a holy life. For discipleship. For being Christ to the world.

Remind us. Call us. Comfort us. Guide us into holy practices that make a difference not only in our lives, but in the lives of all those we encounter.

Lord, call me by name today. Let me hear you. Let every single person here hear you. Guide us this morning to reaffirm our commitment to you, to hear your call and to choose again to be faithful, to be loving, to be followers of you.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A Prayer in remembrance of Saint Nicholas

Almighty God, who in your love gave to your servant Nicholas of Myra a perpetual name for deeds of kindness on land and sea: Grant, we pray, that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Collect For the Victims of Addiction

Blessed Lord, you ministered to all who came to you: Look with compassion upon all who through addiction have lost their health and freedom. Restore to them the assurance of your unfailing mercy; remove from them the fears that beset them; strengthen them in the work of their recovery; and to those who care for them, give patient understanding and persevering love. Amen.

BCP

Worthwhile Investments; a sermon for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 12:38-44

³⁸ As he was teaching, he said, “ Watch out for the legal experts. They like to walk around in long robes. They want to be greeted with honor in the markets. ³⁹ They long for places of honor in the synagogues and at banquets. ⁴⁰ They are the ones who cheat widows out of their homes, and to show off they say long prayers. They will be judged most harshly. ”

⁴¹ Jesus sat across from the collection box for the temple treasury and observed how the crowd gave their money. Many rich people were throwing in lots of money. ⁴² One poor widow came forward and put in two small copper coins worth a penny.i⁴³ Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “ I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than everyone who’s been putting money in the treasury. ⁴⁴ All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had, even what she needed to live on. ”

Let the words of my mouth

and the meditations of my heart

be pleasing to you,

LORD , my rock and my redeemer.

We’re at church. This is the place where, week after week, you have somebody asking you for money. We take up regular offerings every week, most of which, admittedly, support my salary. Awkward to stand in front of y’all making that request. Six out of fifty-two weeks every year, we take up special offerings for something with the global United Methodist Church. We take up special offerings immediately after major disasters. We could probably fill up every other Sunday with special offerings for Wesley Foundations and camps and ministries with minorities and food banks and thrift stores and South Sudan and whatever else comes up that needs the support of local churches.

At the same time, we don’t talk about the way we are called to invest responsibly here, locally, in our own households.

In fact, you know what? We don’t talk about personal responsibility much at all. And I suppose that’s my fault.

I talk about our calling. I talk about what it means to follow. You know, discipleship and stuff.

But I’m not sure I often go in the direction of defining worthwhile investments.

Folks generally know better than to have these arguments around me, but once upon a time in Cullowhee, North Carolina, Karoline got involved in a conversation about giving in the church. Another student who attended the Wesley Foundation with us was arguing that wealthy people who made comparatively enormous investments were giving sacrificially. For example, if Jay Leno chose do make a $100,000 donation to a local non-profit, approximately what it might cost him to purchase and repair one of his fleet of luxury or one-off cars, that would be a sacrificial gift comparable to what we call the widow’s mite.

That infuriated Karoline, because the math simply doesn’t work. And in no way, shape, or form is it appropriate to talk about the sacrifice of a luxury as if it’s the same as the sacrifice of a meal.

If you have more, more is expected of you. It’s really that simple.

But we are a society that has embraced and uplifted greed to the point that accumulating wealth is considered the highest of all attainments.

All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had, even what she needed to live on.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, giving is a thing that our family struggles with. And it’s not just because we have diapers and constantly changing wardrobes to deal with investing in. We are also dealing with serious debt, the largest part of which is in student loans. We have more academic debt than all our other debt combined.

So when Bishop Swanson asked me, on the stage at Annual Conference, with all the other ordinands a year and a half ago, if I was in debt so as to embarrass myself, I had a serious problem answering.

Was a Master of Divinity at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta a debt I collected that is embarrassing? Was it a worthwhile investment?

I believe in education. I believe in the power of wisdom and knowledge. I believe it is a gift God gives us.

But the amount I am paying for that education is embarrassing enough that I haven’t announced to you this morning what the actual number is.

What is a worthwhile investment?

Is it land? That’s something our founding fathers valued enough to protect it as a fundamental human right. Ownership of property, which is absolutely not a biblical value. The Bible teaches us that we don’t own anything. We take care of certain things. We invest them in worthwhile ways.

What is a worthwhile investment?

Stocks? Sports? Entertainment? Books? Technology?

Our reading from Ruth and from the Psalms this morning point to children as a worthwhile investment.

Well, they are an investment. That’s for sure. And they are worthwhile, without a doubt. Our lives are richer by far because of Noah and Sarah and Rebekah. Everything means more. Everything is redefined by the gift of children.

But in no way is the way that God gives more clear than in our children, who are ours for only a fleeting time before they are their own people, making their own decisions and mistakes and investments.

But the situation of Ruth and Naomi is not the same as ours today. Naomi is without any hope of dignity or even sustenance without a male heir. The book of Ruth, really, is her story far more than it is Ruth’s. It is the story of how she secures her own future through Ruth, directing her toward Boaz in rather graphic detail that I will not unpack for you this morning by pointing out the meaning of the euphemism, “uncover his feet.” You can do that yourself.

We are people who are far more propertied and comfortable than they. Our children do not secure our future in the same way that Ruth’s son did.

Nor are our children “like arrows in the hand of a warrior” in the way that the Psalmist speaks today. We don’t collect them to be used as weapons or as bargaining tools. They are not property. They are people.

When Karoline and I invest in our children, we are investing in the future of our community, the future of our world. We are developing disciples for the inbreaking of Christ’s Kingdom. We are readying them to make their own choices and invest in what they value. Sure, we hope they believe in what we believe in, but we can’t ultimately define that for them.

So if we invest wisely, in the future of our communities and in the Kingdom, then our children are a wise and worthwhile investment.

And maybe that’s where the rubber meets the road. We shouldn’t be asking what organizations have the right name, what kinds of groups or things we should be investing in. We should be asking if what we are investing in will help break God’s Kingdom into this reality, whether how we are investing will actually help that happen.

When I invest my finances into something, am I ensuring that my finances will promote something God wants, or am I just pouring money into a pit to be eaten by monsters of greed and corruption?

A few years ago, a friend had an opportunity to lead his ministry in participating in the shoebox ministry. You know, Samaritan’s Purse/Operation Christmas Child thing. He had the presence of mind to make a phone call to their office and ask exactly where the donation was used that is included in every single gift box.

They refused to answer his question.

I have a hard time investing in a ministry like that.

When I invest my finances in something, I want to make sure they are being used for ministry.

When I invest my time in something, I want to make sure my time is cared for and that it makes a difference. When I covenanted that I wasn’t in debt so as to embarrass myself, I also covenanted not to spend my time frivolously. Sometimes I’m good at that, and sometimes I’m not. But I’m making a point of improving.

When I invest my energy into something, I want to make sure that my energy is being used to do good, not to do harm, and to help people realize how close God is to them.

I am striving to make all my investments worthwhile. And there are loads of ways to do that. There are as many ways to do that as there are gifts that God is giving me.

If a poor widow can bless God by giving the very thing she needed to live on, then shouldn’t I, whom God has so richly blessed, give everything I have to bring God’s Kingdom today?

Forget the tithe. The tithe is a cheap excuse. Here, let me write a check and feel like I’ve done my part for the church.

God doesn’t want your tithe. God wants your life.

Is your life a worthwhile investment?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

On That Day; a sermon for the Feast of All Saints

Isaiah 25:6-9

⁶ On this mountain,

the LORD of heavenly forces will prepare for all peoples

a rich feast, a feast of choice wines,

of select foods rich in flavor,

of choice wines well refined.

⁷ He will swallow up on this mountain the veil that is veiling all peoples,

the shroud enshrouding all nations.

⁸ He will swallow up deathr forever.

The LORD God will wipe tears from every face;

he will remove his people’s disgrace from off the whole earth,

for the LORD has spoken.

⁹ They will say on that day,

“ Look! This is our God,

for whom we have waited—

and he has saved us!

This is the LORD , for whom we have waited;

let’s be glad and rejoice in his salvation! ”

Revelation 21:1-6

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “ Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples. God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. ” ⁵ Then the one seated on the throne said, “ Look! I’m making all things new. ” He also said, “ Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. ” ⁶ Then he said to me, “ All is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will freely give water from the life-giving spring.

John 11:32-44

³² When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “ Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. ”

³³ When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled. ³⁴ He asked, “ Where have you laid him? ”

They replied, “ Lord, come and see. ”

³⁵ Jesus began to cry. ³⁶ The Jews said, “ See how much he loved him! ” ³⁷ But some of them said, “ He healed the eyes of the man born blind. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying? ”

³⁸ Jesus was deeply disturbed again when he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered the entrance. ³⁹ Jesus said, “ Remove the stone. ”

Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, “ Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days. ”

⁴⁰ Jesus replied, “ Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory? ” ⁴¹ So they removed the stone. Jesus looked up and said, “ Father, thank you for hearing me. ⁴² I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me. ” ⁴³ Having said this, Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “ Lazarus, come out! ” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his feet bound and his hands tied, and his face covered with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “ Untie him and let him go. ”

Let the words of my mouth

and the meditations of my heart

be pleasing to you,

LORD , my rock and my redeemer.

The raising of Lazarus is perhaps the most awe-inspiring miracle that Jesus performs. It’s a moment of the Divine hand reaching into humanity and radically changing the order of life and death. It is a moment that is particularly holy, particularly righteous.

But it is a moment that is bathed in distinct humanity. And I mean, several different flavors of mundane, real humanity.

Do you hear the grief in Mary’s voice?

“ Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. ”

Do you see the tears in Jesus’ eyes?

“ See how much he loved him! ”

Do you hear the skeptical voices?

“ He healed the eyes of the man born blind. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying? ”

Do you hear pragmatic Martha, reminding Jesus:

“ Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days. ”

Do you see yourself in the family gathered there? Would your reaction be different?

What about the times you’ve been in the shoes of some member of Lazarus’ family? I know we’ve been through a lot in the past year, and we’ve screamed Mary’s complaint at God, and we’ve wondered if Jesus is really all he’s cracked up to be, and every so often we’ve seen the face of Christ crying with us.

That is the promise of Emmanuel, of course. God is with us. And that is the promise that we can tend to forget when we focus too much on texts like Isaiah and the Revelation.

We read those and think, Yeah, God is preparing a house, a banquet, a new everything!

And that’s a valid point.

Thanks be to God that on That Day,

He will swallow up death forever.

The LORD God will wipe tears from every face

Thanks be to God that

There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

Thanks be to God for That Day.

But That Day doesn’t mean God is neglecting what we’re experiencing right now, in this moment, in this grief, in this trouble, in this joy and celebration, too.

In fact, That Day doesn’t mean that it’s not happening right now.

Christ has already defeated death. Christ has already destroyed the power of hell.

The promise to us is that we get to participate in the end of death and hell. We get to be agents of freedom and salvation. We get to be bringers of the kingdom today!

And on this Festival Day, we get to celebrate that fact, and celebrate all those who have made us able to feast today.

Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. I want to invite us to the table this morning and offer us a chance to participate in salvation with those saints who have preceded us and with those who will come after. That is the joy of this table. It is a place and time when space and time converge, a means of grace, a moment when eternity narrows down into this place and time, and this moment joins with all other moments at the table, including that great feast that Jesus is preparing for us on That Day.

This day, we saints feast with all the saints, and this day we recognize and name them and celebrate them and each other.

So as you come to the table this morning, I invite you to take a candle from our basket and light it in memory of your own saints. You can name them aloud, or you can name them in your heart. And you won’t remember everyone. Nobody expects you to. You know, if you get back to your seat and you think of them, name them from there.

And as our lights collect and brighten this space, know that in their flame is the prayer for and our prayer with the saints, who still pray with us today, near to the heart of God where prayer never ceases.

Today, in the face of death and hell, let us celebrate the defeat of death and hell, and prepare a table in the midst of our greatest enemies.

Be Salty: a sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 9:38-50

³⁸ John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone throwing demons out in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”

³⁹ Jesus replied, “ Don’t stop him. No one who does powerful acts in my name can quickly turn around and curse me. ⁴⁰ Whoever isn’t against us is for us. ⁴¹ I assure you that whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will certainly be rewarded.

⁴² “ As for whoever causes these little ones who believe in me to trip and fall into sin, it would be better for them to have a huge stone hung around their necks and to be thrown into the lake. ⁴³ If your hand causes you to fall into sin, chop it off. It’s better for you to enter into life crippled than to go away with two hands into the fire of hell, which can’t be put out. q⁴⁵ If your foot causes you to fall into sin, chop it off. It’s better for you to enter life lame than to be thrown into hell with two feet. r⁴⁷ If your eye causes you to fall into sin, tear it out. It’s better for you to enter God’s kingdom with one eye than to be thrown into hell with two. ⁴⁸ That’s a place where worms don’t die and the fire never goes out .s⁴⁹ Everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? Maintain salt among yourselves and keep peace with each other. ”

Let the words of my mouth

and the meditations of my heart

be pleasing to you,

LORD , my rock and my redeemer.

I thank God every day that Nickelsville isn’t a town in which we have to compete with other churches. Yeah, I know that the Baptist church is the biggest in town, and by a considerable ratio, but I almost never get the impression that we feel like we’re competing with them, or trying to be like them.

The most vital ministries in Nickelsville happen when people are working across denominational lines. I’m sure you’ve seen that, because it’s something I noticed right away.

And I think that’s fantastic! It’s a gift that a lot of communities don’t have. More often than not, churches and different local groups may come up with all the same ideas (because to some degree, people who live in one defined area tend to think alike), but while they have all these similar and compatible ideas, they want to promote only their church, their group, their sub-community.

That’s a problem.

First, it’s a practical problem because when you have a bunch of smaller communities or groups trying to do exactly the same thing (VBS, food pantry, handymen ministries, etc.), their project is only going to get so far. Everybody will be competing for the same resources and the same population. And what you’ll end up with is a bunch of minimally successful or completely unsuccessful ministries spread out over the area.

Second, it’s an image problem. Every community has a lot of people outside of the church. People who are too busy, too disinterested, too badly burned by churchy people to ever darken the door of a church again. And they are extremely critical of and cynical about the institutional Church. When what they observe is that a bunch of churches in an area can’t get along well enough to do something together, in a culture where even outsiders in the church are fundamentally aware of Paul’s theology of one Body with many members, they realize that what we’re doing isn’t Church. What we’re doing is trying to maintain our own local club.

We are being competitive about ministry.

For a couple years at Buffalo Mountain Camp, there were some songs that groups would sing as they hiked up and down the road. One of them got pretty fierce:

We love Jesus, yes we do!

We love Jesus. How about you?

And a group would always sing it at another group. And the other group would respond. And the kids wouldn’t just get excited; they’d get riled up to the degree that you only see at UT football games.

But Brandon, that’s good! Our kids are fired up for Jesus!

No. No, they’re not. They’re fired up about being louder and fiercer than someone else, which is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ministry should never be competitive.

Ministry should never be about I’m-right-and-you’re-wrong. Ministry should never be about we’re-allowed-but-you’re-not.

That’s what the disciples don’t get.

Teacher, we saw someone throwing demons out in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.

We tried to stop him.

Oh, we read this today and we think, How could they dare? And that’s too bad, because we should read this today and think, Oh, I just said that.

I’d like to blame behavior like that on election season, but really, that us-against-them mentality has been prevalent for a long time. I couldn’t point to a time when our churches weren’t that way. If I were to hazard a guess, which I suppose I’m doing right now, I’d say that the followers of Christ have never not been that way.

We get fired up about being right all the time, about our ministries being the most important, the most vital, the most relevant, the most scriptural, the most Jesus-like, the most welcoming, whatever. But what does the Holy Spirit have to say about that?

I think the Holy Spirit shakes her dreamy head and smiles and reminds us of what Mark remembers:

No one who does powerful acts in my name can quickly turn around and curse me. Whoever isn’t against us is for us.

Funny. Matthew and Luke say exactly the opposite.

Whoever isn’t with me is against me, and whoever doesn’t gather with me scatters.

Tricky.

The context is a little different. In Matthew and Luke, Jesus is telling the authorities that he isn’t doing the Devil’s work, essentially. But in Mark, Jesus is advising the disciples to let people who are doing Kingdom work keep doing Kingdom work.

Oddly, the bottom line is the same. If you’re doing the work of Christ, you’re in good standing with Christ. If you’re showing fruit, you’re growing on the vine.

(Just to mix our metaphors a bit.)

So I am glad that the Nickelsville community has some really good models of ecumenical ministry, but I’m not sure we’re really good at welcoming others into our little ministry circles, even when they are fundamentally cooperative.

And I’m also not sure that the spirit of cooperation plays out more broadly than a couple group of friends who’d be hanging out together anyway.

As an example, I want you to observe what kind of a group we have gathered here in worship this morning. We have, today, all three churches of the Nickelsville Circuit gathered in this one beautiful space to worship together.

Now, look around at who’s not here.

I know that there are some folk with valid, real reasons not to be with us this morning. I get that. But I also know, because people have voiced this concern directly to me, that there are those of our friends who will never attend a cooperative service like this because that’s not my church.

Let’s set aside the fundamental theological problems of claiming any local manifestation of God’s church as our own, and of neglecting the reality of the Church as one, holy, apostolic, and universal, and never, ever just a local phenomenon.

Let’s just juxtapose that complaint with the plethora of other criticisms I hear that boil down to, “We don’t want to do church like that because we’ve never done it that way before.” Every criticism I hear like that is only a poorly veiled request to make our worship and our way of doing things exactly like every other ministry around.

Bland. The same. Unseasoned. Saltless.

Forget that, y’all! Let’s do something else! Let’s do something different! Let’s be salty!

Let’s shut up our fears and our discomfort and our preconceived notions and let the Holy Spirit guide us for a change!

Listen, we’re about to dismiss and find our way around tables to dine with each other as one community. Isn’t that a great venue for conversation?

Here’s what I want you to do. We’ll sing a song, we’ll have a benediction and a blessing, and we’ll feast and share. I want you to be brave like Esther and sit with someone you know less well, and I want you to ask them:

What dreams do you have for ministry in Nickelsville?

What people does God put in your line of sight who need the mercy of Jesus?

What gifts do you have that God wants to put to work in our community?

And let me tell you, not everything that the Church does is purely about evangelism. James reminds us to be in ministry with the suffering, the cheerful, and the sick. Jesus reminds us that whenever we have offered mercy to those who are hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned, we have offered mercy to Christ. The prophets time and again remind us that God is deeply concerned with the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the alien in our land.

Do you have a dream or a gift you can share with them?

Let’s sing together, as one body with all the Church around the world this morning, and let the Holy Spirit guide us from here.