Sermons & Meditations

John 6:1-21
Presented July 26, 2009, by J.D. Kline
The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

One of the qualities of life among the Church of the Brethren, one of the values of the gospel we hold most dear, is that of nonconformity. A key text comes from the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter twelve:

I appeal to you, therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect (12:1-2).

Paul’s words remind us that nonconformity is not an end in and of itself, but rather, the result a new way of thinking—a renewing of the mind—that comes to us as we center our lives on discerning the mind of Christ and the will of God, and then seek to live out this new life perspective in all our encounters and relationships. Part of that new way of thinking is a willingness to grapple with difficult questions. What does it mean for us to live, here and now, as if the kingdom of God were fully present in us and among us? How willing are we to stand against the values and mores of the culture around us, when the gospel compels us to live differently from that culture? Indeed, what shape will our living take, should we fully embrace life in God’s realm? What does it mean to be peacemakers living in a world far more prone to opt for violence and warfare? What does it mean to embrace the call to simplicity, to a life of downward mobility, in a world that extols upward mobility and defines human value in terms of how much we have and earn and are willing to hoard? How do we affirm our dependence upon God and our interdependence with the entire human family, while living in a world that ever encourages us to “look out for number one,” to care for ourselves alone?

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Amos 7:7-15; James 1:2-4, 22-25
Presented July 12, 2009, by J.D. Kline
The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

On the way to the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in Boise, Idaho a number of years ago, Janice and I passed through the little town of Fort Laramie, Wyoming, a town with a rather unique welcoming sign. In fact, I was so amused by the sign that I stopped to take a picture, and I ran across a copy of that picture recently, as I was cleaning my office. The sign reads, “Welcome to the town of Fort Laramie: 250 good people—and 6 sore heads.”

Many in the days of the prophet Amos would have considered Amos to be a sore head, and, truth be told, likely would have been tempted to call him names far less complimentary than sore head. Amos, you may remember, is generally considered to be the earliest of the prophets from the 8th century BC, days of apparent peace accompanied by increasing prosperity. But it was only a veneer of peace, and the day’s prosperity was achieved at the expense of the poor and the oppressed. Appalled by Israel’s shocking indifference to the plight of the poor, Amos issues an uncompromising call to the people to amend their ways, but the very people who ought to have known better—Israelites whose own ancestors had been delivered from oppressive bondage in ancient Egypt—now treat the poor among them with disdain. In response, Amos reminds the people that worship remains merely a series of empty acts if it does not lead to transformed living, to a new spirit of compassion and grace.

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Mark 6:1-13
Presented July 5, 2009, by J.D. Kline
The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

A number of years ago—I can’t remember precisely when—I was a part of a small group of persons asked to consider the one quality we most needed to develop in our own lives. We were instructed to write down that quality on a thin slip of paper, and then place the paper in a small jar and position the jar in a conspicuous place, a place where, each time we saw the jar, we would be reminded of the quality of life we are seeking. That jar has remained on my desk for many years, and the slip of paper is still inside it—reminding me of my yearning for the quality of patience.

Patience. The apostle Paul, writing to the church in Galatia, lists patience among the fruit of the Spirit. Recall with me that list: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). To the church at Rome—a small body of believers in Jesus beginning to experience the perils of persecution—Paul, perhaps surprisingly, counsels patience. After celebrating the gift of new life, the promise of peace with God, the joy of sharing God’s unexpected gifts of grace, the apostle continues, “Not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.” The traditional King James language, you may remember, puts it this way: tribulation worketh patience—and this patient endurance produces character. Even more, continues the apostle, “character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

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