Sermons & Meditations

Jeremiah 1:4-10; Romans 12:1-2
Presented April 27, 2008, by J.D. Kline
The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Quaker author Philip Gulley has a new book entitled For Everything a Season, a series of meditations based on the familiar text from Ecclesiastes 3, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted . . .” The first meditation is based upon A Time to be Born, and he shares the story of his father, year after year on Philip’s birthday, telling Philip the story of unfolding events on the night of Philip’s birth. A ritual developed between Philip and his father, with the father asking, “Have I ever told you what happened the night you were born?” and Philip responding, “I don’t believe so.” And then would come the story of a 20-mile drive on a cold winter’s night through a snowstorm so intense that the outline of neighbor’s houses could scarcely be seen, with the defroster in the car not working, and Philip’s father nearly getting frostbite on his face from driving with his head out the window. And finally, after running a red light and being stopped by an officer, the family received a police escort the remainder of the way to the hospital.

Finishing the story, Philip’s father would conclude, “That makes you special.” It was a story, shares Philip Gulley, that frequently helped him through the hard times of growing up. “In my teenage years,” writes Gulley,

When my father and I were at odds, I would remember how he suffered frostbite to bring me safely into this world . . . and my heart would soften. I was a skinny child, the target of bullies. When beaten up and ridiculed, I would take comfort in the fact that I was ushered into this world with a police escort and they were not. It was a wonderful gift my father gave me, that story. He could not give me wealth or fame to ease my way, so he gave me that story and it provided a deep consolation.

Stories can indeed carry significant power in our lives, can they not? Even when Philip Gulley discovered, many years later, how embellished the story was, its power did not fade, for the primary message was not in the details, but in the affirmation that Philip was special, that Philip was loved.

(more…)

1 Peter 2:2-10
Presented April 20, 2008, by J.D. Kline
The Fifth Sunday of Easter

In his book Success is a Moving Target United Methodist pastor and retreat leader Robert Raines relates a story I find myself returning to with some frequency. It’s the story of a dour old Scotsman who had become disenchanted with the congregation of which he was a part, and who therefore had not attended worship for a number of Sundays. The pastor went out to see him in his small cottage along a country road, and when the old Scotsman saw who it was who had knocked on his door, without a word he motioned for the pastor to come inside, indicating a rocking chair in front of the coal fire and drawing up another chair for himself. The two sat in the quiet and watched the coals burning brightly.

After some time the pastor stood up, took a pair of tongs, lifted one of the burning coals out of the fire, put it to the side of the hearth, then sat back down in his chair and began to rock again. Both the pastor and the disenchanted church member watched the lone coal as it grew ashen and cold.

After a time the pastor once again took the tongs, picked up the now dead coal, put it back in the fire, sat down, and the two of them watched as the coal soon began to burn brightly again with all the rest. Without a word ever spoken, the pastor left, and the next Sunday the old Scotsman was back in church, never missing worship services from that day forward.

(more…)

Luke 24:13–35
Presented April 13, 2008, by J.D. Kline
The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Cesar Chavez, noted for his tireless efforts on behalf of the rights of poor and often exploited migrant farm workers, once was asked what has kept him motivated through the years. Responded Chavez,

What keeps me going? Well, it’s like a fire—a consuming, nagging, every-day and every-moment demand of my soul to just do it. It’s difficult to explain. I like to think it’s the good Spirit asking me to do it. I hope so . . . . If you really want something, you have to sacrifice. Because of my faith the concept of sacrifice is understood.

What creates compassionate stirrings deep within our souls, and the courage to respond to those sometimes troubling stirrings? When have you and I experienced burning hearts within us—this consuming, nagging every-day and every-moment demand of the soul that compels us to walk more deeply along the journey of faith, to expend passionate energy in the call to live for the glory of God and the good of our neighbors, to take the risk of responding to an inner fire?

(more…)

1 Peter 2:19–25
Presented April 6, 2008, by J.D. Kline
The Third Sunday of Easter

Some years ago a friend of mine, director of an ecumenical agency and formerly a Lutheran pastor, said to me, “I could never be Brethren.” When I asked him why, he responded something to the effect, “Your expectations are so high, I could never live up to the demands.” When I pushed him a bit more, he suggested that it was not that he disagreed with our passion for peace, nor with our thirst for justice and our desire to live for the glory of God and the good of our neighbors. These were important to him as well. But there is something about the Brethren passion to walk in the very footsteps of Jesus, the yearning to give expression to our faith in all of our living, that seemed to create expectations so high that my Lutheran friend found it all rather intimidating.

Truth be told, our tradition does indeed carry high expectations, does it not? Discipleship—following Jesus; putting our faith into practice; embodying our love in action—these are not options, but rather integral aspects of the Christian faith as we practice it. Some years ago Grady Snyder and Ken Shaffer authored curriculum entitled Texts in Transit: A Study of New Testament Passages that Shaped the Brethren. A primary text that has molded our understanding and practice of the Christian life is this morning’s lesson from 1 Peter, particularly verse 21, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” Embracing the example of Jesus; walking in his footsteps; seeking to live and to love as did Jesus—these have been central to Brethren practice of Christian discipleship from our beginnings. While some Christian traditions place primary emphasis upon being able to give voice to right doctrine, Brethren place central focus upon the quality of our living. How is God calling us to live in the world around us? What does it mean for us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus? How might our lives more fully reflect the compassion, the overflowing grace, the tender mercy, the passionate commitment to justice, the generous peace of our God, made manifest in the life and ministry of Jesus? These are the kinds of questions that have helped shape who we are as members of the Church of the Brethren.

(more…)