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SERMONS:
Pastor Peg posts her two most recent sermons on this page. If you are interested in reading more of her sermons you can go to pastorpeg.wordpress.com.
Living with Grace
May 12, 2024 Mother’s Day
Ephesians 2:1-10 John1:10-18
My first career was as an English teacher, so as you might guess, I love definitions of words. I like looking up new words, and seeing what their origins are, and how they’ve been used down through the ages. I can tell you which is the most used word in the English language: RUN. Look it up in the dictionary – its use covers pages.
When I first started my ministry journey, I was given this definition of grace by a minister: God's grace is God's unmerited favor and love towards us, regardless of our actions, and is given freely to every person without discrimination or preference.
But that definition didn’t define anything for me; if anything it left me more confused. I think partially it was the way he said it. He rattled it off in a rote manner without any inflection on any of the words. I think he was quoting a definition that he needed for a theology test. Plus, it’s not a very straightforward definition; there are a lot of words in that definition that need contextualizing with each other.
So, I was left with the feeling of: What does that mean? You're just giving me a string of words. You're not really telling me how this grace stuff works.
And beyond the definition that the minister gave me, we also tend to use the word in a context that doesn’t necessarily relate to God. We can say, “She is such a graceful person,” or “He stayed in his good graces.” Or even as a duke or duchess’s title: Your Grace.
So, I went on a journey to try to figure out how to explain grace to myself, and how I could recognize grace, and how it’s practically applied, because, let’s face it, if a word doesn’t have an applicable meaning it’s just gibberish. I mean if I say the word myocardial infarction, those of you who know medical terms might recognize that I just said heart attack, but for a lot of us that would go over our heads, so the words are useless to us.
First, I tackled Grace as a part of speech. Grace is a noun. I used to tell my students that a noun is a person, place, or a thing. Nouns are tangible. I can touch my husband, Michael, I can be in this church, and I can touch this phone. But there are other nouns which we can't touch but we experience, like love. Love and grace are what I call big idea nouns. They are an action, an emotion, an experience, and a thing. Grace is an action from God, and an emotion that we feel when we’re connected to God, an experience that we go through, and something that stands as itself.
Knowing this we can take apart the definition that I was given, and look at the pieces. God's grace is God's unmerited favor and love towards us: In other words, the care and love that God has for us is shown in actions emotions and connections with God; and experiences that we go through when we feel his love and favor or help from him. And regardless of our actions means that it doesn't matter if our actions are good or bad, mistakes or triumphs; God still loves us and wants to connect with us anyway.
And finally, the emotional connection and the action and experiencs of grace is given to all of us without discrimination or preference. We could be rich, we could be poor, we could be living in a city or the country. We could be European, American, African, Asian, Middle Eastern, American Indian, or a mix of all of them. We could be male or female, adults or children. It doesn't matter; God loves us all equally. And Grace is how he transmits his love to each of us.
OK, second problem: How do we recognize God's grace and how do we pass on that grace to each other?
I thought: Grace is a very powerful spiritual action that happens to all of us when we connect to God. And using the letters of the word grace I started to list positive spiritual ideas and actions:
G: generous, gentle, good, goodness
R: regeneration, renewing, resurrection
A: all seeing, all knowing, All-encompassing, actions
C: compassion, caring, courage
E: eternally, everlasting, every day.
(This is actually a short list of all the words I came up with.)
And then I played with the different combinations of the words and came up with the phrase; Generous – Renewing - Actions of - Compassion - Every day. (Which you have probably heard me say before. This is where it’s from.)
This isn't the theological definition of what grace is, that’s what we go at the beginning of the sermon. But it's the way I can recognize when God has given grace to me. I know that if the event or action is generous, or renewing, or has compassion, then it's from God.
And I can use This mnemonic to help me evaluate whether my actions are reflecting grace or not. If every day I can do an action that is generous, or renewing, or compassionate then I feel that I have been God’s child in the world. I also feel that I'm doing what Jesus would want me to do by showing love the way Jesus loved us by being generous, helping people to renew, and showing them compassion.
Of course, not all actions are going to be all at once generous, renewing, and compassionate. But if at some time during the day I can be one of those things or do one of those actions then I'm doing my job.
Now the way I'm talking about this might seem that you always have to say YES. That we should always give people what they think they need or want. That we should always be trying to help them, that we should always be nice and sweet to them. But sometimes grace comes in the form of tough love and in the word NO. Those sticky moments are where discernment and prayer come in. If you're not sure that you're acting in the best interest of a person with your kindness, that's a time to take it to God or Jesus and say to him, “Help me out with this. This is a sticky situation.” Sometimes the answer is going to come back that you have to be tough with your boundaries.
Today is Mother’s Day, when we celebrate not only our biological mothers but also all the women in our lives who influenced us in a positive manner. The ones who were generous with their time, renewed us when we needed some lifting up and direction, and who cared for us when we needed it. Today is a day that we celebrate actions of Grace. We say thank you for them and for the people who give them to us.
But don’t wait for a special day to give grace, or to give thanks for receiving it.
Do you know what the main complaint is in relationships? And I don’t mean just husbands and wives. This complaint covers boyfriends and girlfriend; parents and children; people who are just friends; and relatives, colleagues, and acquaintances. People say that the relationship is difficult, or ends, or fades away because people don’t give or receive thanks for what they have done for the other person.
Just that simple action of saying thank you for any act of kindness, no matter how small, is an action that is generous, renewing, and compassionate. It is an act of grace. And we should be saying it every day. Not just on Mother’s Day; not just on Father’s Day; not just on Birthdays and Graduations: not just on Christmas and Easter, and any other holiday that’s in the calendar. We should be saying thank you to as many people as we can whenever the opportunity arises.
Grace is the great gift from God that we can spread all through our families, and communities, and the world. Practice it. Practice those actions of generosity. Go out and make something new or make it new again. And give love in the form of compassion to all you meet, even if it’s just a simple thank you. Do all of that and you will soon find that you are living in a continual state of Grace.
The Church Today
May 5, 2024 6th Sunday of Easter
Romans 12:9-18 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
The church today is not the same as when Jesus was leading his movement. They didn't have a church building. Jesus’ church was a group of people who listened to his preaching and teaching, as they followed him from place to place.
The church today is not the same as when, after Jesus’ ascension, the disciples were running things. When Paul wrote Corinthians and Romans, early Christians were meeting and worshipping in people's houses.
The church from 300 to 1,000 C.E. was not the same as our church today. Christian groups started to build assembly halls that were two to three room houses for the priest and his family, with the big hall for the congregation to worship in. And being a priest was a family business. Usually, the job was handed down father to son, along with the property.
The church today wasn’t the same as 1,000 years ago. In that year the Catholic Church decided that churches couldn't be owned by individual families. It was declared that churches were owned by the greater church, and priests were no longer allowed to be married. The priests were allowed to live in their little rooms but their families were kicked out, and they were no longer allowed to hand down the property to their sons. The greater church would now educate and approve who was going to be a priest and where they were going to be assigned.
For the next 500 years Churches became bigger and grander. And then 500 years ago, the church shifted again. There were upheavals, and reformation, and the creation of new denominations like the Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Anglicans, and then eventually Methodists.
And today's Church it's not even the same as the Church of the last century. But maybe that’s how it’s always been. The church gets changed and restructured because we are trying to fit the church within the social context of the world. Every generation is trying to find its way to God, but is dealing with a different set of circumstances from the last generation. My mother didn't grow up with television, I did. I didn't grow up with cell phones and the Internet, my children did. It is easy for us to fall into nostalgia and look back and think that earlier generations had it easier. They didn't. They had to adapt to new circumstances that sometimes they weren't ready for, just like we have to adapt to our new circumstances that sometimes we don't feel ready for. If you think about it: For 2,000 years all our churches havebeen the same because change is the only permanence we’ve ever had.
But underneath the story of buildings, we have always been followers of Christ, needing and doing the same things that the people in Jesus's time did.
During Jesus’s time people were looking for ways to connect to God. They were confused by the rules and trapped by the traditions; and they felt that they could never be good enough because they kept getting the rules and the traditions wrong. But Jesus said to them: Don’t despair. You can’t do it perfectly because you’re human. You’re not omniscient, you’re not divine, and God understands that and forgives you. For you to feel and know God’s forgiveness, all you have to do is admit that you're wrong. And if God is too scary and powerful then admit it to me. And if you do, then God you will feel his forgiveness, and you will know you can repent, and you will be given the strength to redeem yourself through actions of love.
How many people in this world today are burden with the feeling and belief: I am not good enough. I am a horrible person. I am not worthy? Jesus's message is the same as it was when he was walking this earth: You are forgiven. God loves you. Your burden can be eased and lifted, and you are worthy because you are a child of God.
That’s what Jesus said when he walked this earth. That is the message that the disciples gave to the people. That is the message that we, as the Body of Christ, give to each generation. That is the message of hope that gets repeated each year because it’s needed in this crazy world of change.
The church down through the ages has never been a building, or rituals, or stained-glass windows, or hymn books, or organs and pianos. The church has always been its people.
Today we're going to acknowledge in our communion service that Jesus said to us this is my body which is given for you. And then we say: We're going to accept this bread and this wine which represents Jesus body and sacrifice. And as we accept the bread and the wine, we ask to be given the strength to become the body of Christ for the world.
Look at all the bodies in this building. Not one of you is the same as the other. Each of you has gifts and graces. Each of you has strengths and weaknesses. Each of you has things you're good at, things you're not good at, and some things that you're getting better at. But not one of us is more important than the other in this church. Because not one of us singularly can do all the work.
The Body of Christ is both individuals and the community. This is a place where each person should be able to come and develop their strength of spirit and faith so that they can live that faith in the world. That creates a community of people which goes out into the world and builds up positive support in the greater community. That support gives strength to other individuals so that they, in turn, can strengthen the community. We're going for that positive feedback loop. That's how you build the Kingdom of God.
And sometimes that's not easy to do. 1st Corinthians is a very interesting book because everything that could go wrong in a church is going wrong. People are saying: I'm the most important person in this church so you should listen to me and only to me., and you should do what I say. So, Paul uses the body analogy. He says: The hand can't function without the foot; the eyes can't function without the ears; and you all can't function without each other. So, all you Corinthians, start to value each other's gifts and graces as much as you value your own. Then use those gifts and graces to get out there and support other people who need your help and support in Corinth.
Each church decides what kind of Body of Christ it should be. How is it going to nurture the individual so that you all can become stronger Christians? And what gifts and graces do we have that we can bring out of this building and into our communities?
I’m here to help each of you individually strengthen your faith so that you can find and clarify those gifts and graces. If you have questions, ask me. If you have doubts, tell me what they are, and we'll see if we can work towards certainty. If you have ideas let me know, and let's see if we can make them become real.
I'm also here to help this body figure out how we can be Christians in our community. You, as a group, know this community and its needs so much better than I do. I might be able to see things fresh because I'm new, and sometimes fresh eyes are a good thing. I might have suggestions, which may be right, or might be really wrong. And I trust you to tell me which way I'm heading. But I'm here to listen to your hearts and to try to help you realize how you can get out there and be healers and builders in the world.
So, let’s value each other. Let’s celebrate our gifts and graces. Let’s open our hearts to the Holy Spirit which whispers and nudges, and sometimes shouts and pushes us, to new experiences and ideas that will enable us to give God’s Love to others. Let us strive for the greater gifts of God, and we will be shown a new excellent and renewing way.