Sermons & Meditations

Matthew 10:40-42; Romans 15:7-13
Presented June 26, 2011, by Joel Kline
The Second Sunday after Pentecost

Back in my college days, many years ago at Elizabethtown College, I was running late for a class when I was approached by someone I didn’t know. When I paused, the young man asked if I could help him with directions. After saying I’d try, the fellow asked, “How do you get to heaven?” It soon became apparent that he had little interest in discovering if I had anything to offer him; quite to the contrary, the young man came armed with prescribed language, a checklist of requirements and regulations guaranteed—so he claimed—to ensure my eternal destiny.

I suspect most of us have encountered those who would reduce the life of faith to a list of four spiritual rules or a similar simplistic formula. But my intention this morning is not so much to lament unhelpful—and sometimes even damaging—approaches to the sharing of our faith, but rather to invite reflection on how it is that you and I might more meaningfully and effectively embody and share the faith that nurtures and sustains our living.

In his book Everything Must Change Brian McLaren reminds us that “if Jesus’ message of the kingdom of God is true, then everything must change.”  If Jesus was correct—that God is in the business of making all things new, and that our calling as followers of Jesus is to begin living now as if God’s unfolding realm is already present in us and among us—then we dare not rest satisfied with business as usual. Everything must indeed change, for the One we follow was not just concerned about the personal dimensions of life, but about social and global transformation as well. Heart, mind, and soul; being, thinking, and doing—all these are remade, refashioned, claims Jesus boldly, in the light of God’s gracious love. Indeed, asserts McLaren, “Jesus confronted the framing story that drove the society of his day and offered a radical alternative.” His goal was to shift life from “a downward arc of self-destruction to an ascending spiral of transformation and hope.”

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Ezekiel 37:1-14
Presented June 19, 2011, by Joel Kline
The First Sunday after Pentecost

The noted Southern novelist Flannery O’Connor once observed that “some kind of loss is usually necessary to turn the mind toward faith. If you’re satisfied with what you’ve got,” asserted O’Connor, “you’re hardly likely to look for anything better.” No doubt that’s why the experience of Exile played such a critical role in shaping the thought and faith of the ancient people of Israel. Recall that experience with me, how the beloved city of Jerusalem was destroyed and a significant portion of the population forced to live in exile in the enemy territory of Babylon. Surely the loss of one’s homeland would be trauma enough, but for the ancient Israelites life in Exile represented so much more; it was as if the very underpinnings of their lives had been lost. The people had long believed that God had intentionally instituted the kingdom of Israel and was committed to a succession of kings in the line of David. In 2 Samuel 7 words of promise to David, spoken by the prophet Nathan, are recorded: “The Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you… Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever” (7:11b-12, 16).

Even more, the people were convinced that God had deliberately made God’s home in Jerusalem—and specifically in the Temple. Yet with the destruction of the holy city, along with the Temple, all seemed now to be lost. It was a time of deep grief, of confused questioning, and for some, intense soul searching. Can you not imagine those ancient Israelites questioning what this must mean, that Yahweh, the One who claimed not only to be Israel’s God, but much more, the Creator of all the universe—this God had now seemingly fallen, and fallen mightily?

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