We are spending some time this summer working through our church’s purpose and vision statement, which you can find at the bottom of the bulletin or on the front page of our website. We crafted this purpose and vision statement 2 years ago in collaboration with the board and other church leaders interested in the process. It was an open process with representatives from the congregation. Last week we began with the first statement: Serve God, with your whole heart. This week, we are looking at the second line: Love, with no exceptions. As a reminder you can access these weekly messages on our church website blog spot. You might be thinking: what did they say last week about serving God? You can find it there.
Scripture
Ezekiel 17: 23 On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind.
1 Corinthians 5:17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
Word I
Both of these texts point to resting in God’s love. Sounds luxurious.
The prophet Ezekiel and the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians are actually mandating (that’s a strong word--but I think we need to use it) something new. Seems the opposite of resting, but bear with us. When Ezekiel and Paul exclaim new spaces and new behavior they are actually inviting us to God’s love, because while the old ways have become stagnant, God is never stagnant and always transforming. God’s love is new. All * The * Time.
This past week we have been thinking of the word “new” a lot. The Rocky Mountain Conference of our United Church of Christ had their annual meeting and the theme was Church Anew. After a year-long pandemic, everything seems new. Especially the church. Especially our church-we have done a lot of new things!
We did new things for several reasons. Some of it strategic and logistical but some of it deeply theological. We have been inspired by our sacred texts and our Jesus stories. And, what we can gather from the prophet Ezekiel and from the apostle Paul are the same themes:
Find home in God.
Find home in Christ.
Rest.
And, everyone is welcome.
Finding home and resting in God is not always comfortable or luxurious, but it is right and just.
The Hebrew bible and the New Testament tells the stories of a new way of community in different times and places and under difficult circumstances. In all of these stories, there is a call to something new. Ezekiel, the prophet from the Hebrew bible, does it by telling a parable. Ezekiel uses planting and growing and birthing new spaces in a cedar tree, where everyone and every creature will be welcome and safe. He tells this story when his community is under tremendous stress and vulnerability. Like most prophets this takes courage and strength. And, as we know, building a community where EVERYONE is welcome is not easy.
In 1 Corinthians, there is a call of creating a new space in our hearts, with Christ’s help. This enthusiasm was during the birthing of the early church following Jesus’s death and resurrection. The Roman empire was rigid and controlling. There was no room for the kind of love that Jesus had hoped for in the pursuit for justice.
In both these cases it was a message of stepping out of a comfort zone to learn something new, do something new, engage in new types of relationships and to be transformed by personal story, service to others, and prayer. That’s hard. But, faith journeys and faith communities are actually not meant to be easy and comfortable.
We are Christians and as Christians we have a beautiful ancient text that we can access to help give meaning when life gets confusing or even when church purpose statements get confusing. This is why I love the church so much. It’s a place that I can gather with others and learn things like: Love. With no exceptions.
While Ezekiel paints this beautiful picture of oneness and interconnectedness in the parable to find safe space, 1 Corinthians asks us to lean into Christ. This means that when we love the way Jesus has called us to love we recognize we are synonymous with Christ and that all of God’s creation is also synonymous with Christ and that when we recognize Christ, we actually are recognizing love in ourselves and the other. This is tricky though because as people (and people who are always forming and transforming) we tend to act in the interest of self-preservation and self-interest. This is why biblical texts like this call us back to Christ’s love.
When Christ is present or when love is present there is creative transformation in our lives and in our community. Our ancient text and our Christian tradition calls us to love. Period. Everyone. Period. This is not theoretical, it is in action. If it was just simply our belief system in our heads, with no application in our hands and feet, it would be easy and there would not be transformation.
You all know that we dig the idea of creative transformation here at BFCC. Theologian John Cobb describes creative transformation as a way of talking about a certain type of change and growth that occurs as a result of God’s word.
Here is our broad stroke on the biblical text. Love. With No Exceptions. Not simply in words, but in action.
Word II
I am listening to Glennon Doyle’s new podcast (she is an author and speaker and activist) and the name of her podcast is called “We can do hard things.” It’s a new podcast and so far the subjects of conversation have been things like anxiety, boundaries and addiction. And, then this week we came across a New Yorker article book review called Let’s Talk About Hard Things. The author Anna Sale writes about death, sex, and money. I suspect that coming out of a year long pandemic people are looking for a bit of creative transformation as the people of the ancient world had also. The article says: As vaccinated people begin to have joyous reunions with friends and family, after a year of isolation and Zooms, many of us are realizing that we’ve forgotten how to talk about the easy things, let alone the hard ones. This might be one reason for creative transformation but for me after a year at home, it gave me pause to think about what really matters and who really matters and what is deeply important to me. At the end of the year, it meant creative transformation does not mean staying hinged to the institutions of the past but rather finding and creating anew.
At the end of the year it meant recognizing Christ and in the recognition there would be new creation. It means that rest does not always mean the same or stillness or silence or sleep. It means resting in Christ is to shake things up and challenge myself and the community that I serve. For the people of Corinth it was a way of surviving. And, I dare say it is for us, also.
Maybe it’s unscrewing the pews and putting them in a circle? Maybe it's learning how to listen to a podcast on your smartphone, or accessing a QR code!? Or, engaging in a class on privilege and race? Maybe it’s being in dialogue with different communities of people. For Jesus it was dining with the sinners, healing the lepers and teaching women. This is not about who Jesus was but what Jesus actually did. His whole work was creative transformation in an effort to restore wholeness in his community.
MAF: Love. With No Exceptions.
MT: Righting relations between body and mind and spirit
All: Through a ministry of prayer and action
MT: Love. With No Exceptions.
MAF: Righting relations through ethical words
All: Through a ministry of prayer and action
MAF: Love. With No Exceptions
MT: Righting relations through healing ministry of touch and being touched
The lepers, women and the blind
All: Through a ministry of prayer and action
MT: Love. With No Exceptions
MAF: Righting relations by healing communities that are different from the majority.
All: Through a ministry of prayer and action
MAF: Love. With No Exceptions
MT: Righting relations through a ministry of compassion and love
All: Through a ministry of prayer and action.
MAF & MT: Love. With no exceptions.