Sermons & Meditations

James 3:13-4:3
Presented September 24th, 2006, by J.D. Kline
The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Stewardship Theme: Celebrate Abundance—Give Yourself to God

Some years ago I read a novel entitled The Hessians, written by Howard Fast and set in colonial Connecticut. It’s the story of how the Connecticut settlers, largely Puritan in background, respond when a small contingent of Hessian soldiers—professional German soldiers hired by the English—land on Connecticut soil. A young man, who is mentally challenged and largely ignored by the Puritan community, is the only one to spot the soldiers. Fascinated by their uniforms and their precise marching, the young man follows the soldiers. The Hessians, assuming that he is a spy, capture and hang him. A young Quaker boy witnesses the hanging, and after watching in horror, runs to town to report the troubling events. Immediately a militia is formed, an ambush planned, and all the Hessians are killed—all except a drummer, a sixteen-year-old boy, who manages to escape.

The community attempts to locate the Hessian drummer and bring him to “justice”—justice being equated by the Puritan settlers with placing the young man on trial, declaring him guilty, and hanging him. When the drummer cannot be found, suspicion begins to mount that a Quaker family is harboring him. Dr. Leversham, the community doctor, finds himself repulsed by the viciousness of many of his Puritan neighbors. Though he does not fully comprehend the Quakers and their wholehearted rejection of violence stemming from their intent to model the self-giving and compassionate love of Jesus, that does not lessen his disdain for the bloodthirstiness of the vast majority of his neighbors.

When the Hessian lad is found on a nearby Quaker farm, Dr. Leversham urges mercy. One community leader, with whom the doctor has locked horns in the past, responds forcefully to the doctor’s efforts, crying out, “There’s a difference between us, Leversham. I know how to hate, and hate is a lovely thing. A person is strong with hate, stronger than you can imagine.”

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James 3:1-12
Presented September 17th, 2006, by J.D. Kline
The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Stewardship Theme—Celebrate Abundance: Give Yourself to God

Discipleship—following Jesus—is a key theme in the Church of the Brethren, and in my growing-up years, the message that discipleship is serious business—this message came through loud and clear. I learned from little on up that being a follower of Jesus affects every aspect of one’s living—from how we treat our neighbors and how we live within our families to the decisions we make about life’s priorities and about what it means to live in community. Discipleship, I learned from an early age, involves seeking to live peacefully and simply with others, even when the world around us asserts a counter message. Much of the world asserts that life’s meaning is to be found in the grasping and in the hoarding, and that it’s perfectly acceptable to do whatever it takes to hold onto that which we claim as ours. To walk in the ways of Jesus, on the other hand, requires an alternative perspective, a serious commitment to serving rather than grasping, sharing rather than hoarding, peacemaking rather than the taking up of arms. Discipleship involves grappling with the question of how we live out—day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute—the teachings of Jesus, our Example every bit as much as our Redeemer.

Serious business, indeed. The letter of James, long a favorite in the Church of the Brethren, encourages this view of discipleship as serious business. I once heard the letter of James described as a string of pearls, with its series of practical guidelines for living out our faith in Jesus, here and now. This morning’s text from James, chapter three, speaks of the high calling, the high responsibility of serving as a teacher. Reading between the lines, it seems apparent that some were putting themselves forward, claiming to have a message worthy to be embraced. But James makes it clear that leadership in the church carries responsibility, not simply to speak one’s own words—but much more, to reflect the message of the Spirit of God. No doubt this is why James asserts, “not many of you should become teachers” (3:1).

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James 2:1-10, 14-17
Presented September 10th, 2006, by J.D. Kline
The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

The story is told of a wise rabbi who once asked his students how they could tell when night had ended and day was on its way back. “Is it when you can see an animal in the distance, and can tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?” asked one student. “No,” responded the rabbi. “Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance, and tell whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree?’ asked another. “No,” the rabbi answered again. “Well, then,” demanded the students, “when is it?” “It is when you look on the face of another human being and see that he or she is your brother or sister. Because if you cannot do that, then no matter what time of day it is, it is still night for you.”

At its heart, the gospel proclaimed by Jesus is all about coming to see as we’ve never seen before, learning to experience life in new and fresh ways. In his book The Call to Conversion Jim Wallis puts it this way:

Faith opens us to the future by restoring our sight, softening our hearts, bringing light into our darkness. We are converted to compassion, justice and peace as we take our stand as citizens of Christ’s new order. We see, hear and feel now as never before.

This new way of seeing, hearing, and experiencing life comes as we embrace a new reality. And what is the shape of this new reality? Life with God at the center. Life in which we affirm that we are loved by a love that will not let us go. But it is not a love to be held to ourselves; rather, it is a love to be lived and to be shared. As the wise rabbi suggests, it is a matter of living fully in the light of day, coming to see others as bearing the very image of God, of being our sisters and brothers.

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James 1:17-27
Presented September 3rd, 2006, by J.D. Kline
The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Some years ago Elizabeth O’Connor, active in the Church of Our Savior in Washington, D.C., wrote a book entitled Journey Inward, Journey Outward. I don’t remember many specifics about the book, but I love the title. Far too often the church has a tendency to polarize between those who focus on the inward journey of faith, one’s personal connection with God, and those who focus on the outward journey, the call to active involvement in the world around us. Our Church of the Brethren tradition has long emphasized that faith is intensely personal, yet never private. To embrace the way of Christ is to embrace life in community; it is to enter into relationship with one another. In the words of the apostle Paul, we are “members one of another” (Ephesians 4:25). And our calling is to so embrace and live out the compassion and self-giving love, the peace and joy, the promise and hope of Christ, that we become an inviting community, a welcoming community, a faith deepening community, a peace-filled community, a serving community.

All this is to say that faith is both an inward journey and an outward journey. The life of faith involves inner reflection, times for prayerful growth in one’s own relationship with God, but it also involves active connection with the world around us—doing justice, working for peace, confronting oppression, embodying God’s love. And the connecting piece between the inward and outward journeys is life in Christian community—being the body of Christ for and with one another.

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