Sermons & Meditations

Luke 11:1–13
Presented July 29th, 2007, by J.D. Kline
The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Preaching professor Tom Long tells the story of a Presbyterian congregation in Princeton, New Jersey which became concerned about hunger in its community. After a number of members became involved in an inner city ministry that made them aware of the vastness of the problem in their midst, the congregation began taking regular special offerings where people were invited, much as we do with our offerings for the Global Food Crisis Fund, to bring hunger gifts forward during the singing of a hymn. But the more the congregation gave, it seemed, the more many became overwhelmed with just how deep was the need in their community, and some began to lament that their gifts were little more than a drop in the bucket.

But then, one Sunday, an older woman, one of the town’s “bag ladies” who had shown up for worship, made her way forward during the hunger offering. The congregation was all eyes as she walked down the aisle, shopping bag filled with all her possessions in hand. Many wondered if she would take something out of the offering plate rather than putting something in, knowing she likely had little to contribute. But when the bag lady reached the front of the sanctuary, she quietly knelt before the plate, folded her hands reverently, and mouthed a prayer of gratitude. The homeless woman’s presence that morning served as a reminder to the congregation that, while they likely would not solve all the hunger issues of the community, what they were doing was touching lives in a significant way; the congregation was planting noticeable seeds of compassion and care.

This morning’s Gospel lesson centers on prayer, how it is that we experience communion with God. But even more, this morning’s lesson speaks of persistence, the call to “hang in there” as we endeavor to live faithfully, even when the results are not clearly visible. In the business of doing justice, proclaiming peace, living compassionately, loving tenderly, walking humbly with our God—in all this, our primary calling is to remain steadfast as we seek to reflect Christ’s gracious love, and then to trust that God will bring forth the results.

(more…)

Amos 8:1–12
Presented July 22nd, 2007, by J.D. Kline
The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. I grew up hearing with some frequency these words from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, and over time came to claim this call to compassionately living, this urging of Jesus to serve others in the very name and spirit of Christ—I came to affirm this call as central to the life of discipleship.But it was only some time later that I paid attention to the context of these challenging words of Jesus, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these…you did it to me.” The message is set in the context of a parable of Jesus describing the final judgment.

Those of us who affirm the graciousness of God, the overflowing love and compassion of God, as God’s primary character, frequently find ourselves uncertain what to do with Scriptural parables and stories of judgment. Most of us have already encountered in the course of our living far too many people who claim to be living lives of faithfulness to God, yet who display little sense of the primacy of God’s abundant love, instead portraying God instead as a vindictive God, a God of judgment, a God of anger, a God of vengeance. Not wanting to be as out of kilter as some others seem to be, you and I are sometimes prone simply to ignore any passages that center on judgment. Consider, for example, this morning’s text from the prophet Amos, chapter eight, stark words announcing God’s judgment against a people who had forgotten the call to live compassionately. “Hear this,” cries Amos to his fellow Israelites in eighth century BC, “you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land…. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation…. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day” (Amos 8:4, 10). Who wants to listen to words that announce only lamentation and mourning and grief?

(more…)

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Presented July 8th, 2007, by J.D. Kline
The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

One of the things that keeps me most rooted in the Church of the Brethren is our long-held focus upon life service rather than mere lip service—this affirmation that the journey of faith speaks to all of our living, rather than being compartmentalized and pushed into one corner of life. Reacting against a climate in 18th century Europe in which the religious hierarchy placed primary stress upon right doctrine while overlooking—and sometimes even encouraging—moral decadence and self-centered living, the Brethren moved in a very different direction. Faith, taught those early Brethren, was not simply a matter of knowing about the Christian life; it was a matter of living it. The Brethren were formed among those who had had a bitter experience of warfare, violence, and destruction, with vast parts of Europe devastated by the Thirty Years War, a war of religious infighting. And following the Thirty Years War, repeated invasions into the German Palatinate, the area from which the Brethren arrived, by neighboring armies kept fresh the horrors of armed conflict. Is it any wonder that the first Brethren were so drawn to the peaceful teachings of Jesus, as found in the Sermon on the Mount?

You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also….

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your [Creator] in heaven (Matthew 5:38-39, 43-45).

(more…)

Luke 9:51-62
Presented July 1st, 2007, by J.D. Kline
The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Who can forget the powerful words that conclude Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken:”

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.

Who among us has not taken a turn in the road that has made a critical difference in the direction of our lives? Sometimes circumstances may force us to choose an alternative road that we had little anticipated, perhaps even an unwanted road, yet our lives are forever altered. In my own life, Janice’s accident and death serve as one of those times when I found myself compelled to choose a divergent path.

But this morning I invite you to consider those decisions we freely choose, decisions that enable us to embrace new direction, new purpose, new meaning in life. In our faith tradition, baptism clearly serves as a key turn in the road, a time when individuals publicly confirm their loyalty to Jesus and their intention to follow in Christ’s ways. It is a time of choosing what Jesus describes as the narrow way leading to abundant living, to fullness of life. Not all decisions we make, however, lead us in the right direction. In a book entitled Porch Talk, Quaker author Philip Gulley suggests that the decision of homebuilders back in the 1950s, to omit front porches from new houses as a cost saving measure, served as a key factor in the decline of our society. “All manner of lessons,” asserts Gulley, “were learned on the front porch. When the porches went, so did the stories and the wisdom with them. Today, we do our talking during commercial breaks. This is a profound tragedy, but one we could correct by putting our televisions in the closet and porches on our homes.”

Whether the lack of front porches on many of our homes is a cause or a symptom of the lack of significant face-to-face communication can be argued, but this much is clear—in recent decades many in our society have chosen a lifestyle that little provides for meaningful dialogue and interaction within families and communities. In choosing a divergent path, our culture has lost much of the art of interpersonal communication.

(more…)