Community Church Sermons

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, Year B - November 5, 2000

"The Redemptive Community"

Hebrews 9:11-14

As we come together on this first Sunday in November, let me share with you two comments that people have made to me in recent days. The first is in the form of a question. "When are you going to preach a sermon about the election?" Hmmm. The second comment comes not as a question, but as a declaration. "I sure as heck hope you're NOT going to preach about the election!" Hmmmm!

So here, on the Sunday before the Tuesday when Americans go to the polls to elect new leadership, I find myself caught between a rock and a hard place. Although, to tell you the truth, I believe very strongly that the church should be extremely wary of becoming too closely identified with political parties and candidates. One of the central themes of the Old Testament is that, in choosing human political leadership over God's personal leadership, the Hebrew people became susceptible to confusing their politicians with God. Like us, our spiritual forbears were too quick to sing, "Happy Days Are Here Again!" with the ascendancy of each new regime. But over and over and over again, their kings disappointed them, turning out to be just as human and just as flawed as they were. And the lesson had to be learned all over again that the future is not truly in the hands of a Saul, or a David, or a Solomon, or even a Caesar. The future belongs to God, and only by following God will we find life for ourselves, our families and our nation.

This is why, when they asked Jesus what his position was on taxes - should they be cut, and if so, should they be targeted or across the board cuts - Jesus answered, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's." And in that one simple answer Jesus reminds us that there is a difference between the political structure of the day, and the kingdom of God.

And failing to notice that distinction, we render ourselves unable to impact the political system for the better, and we can become muzzled and unable to be God's prophetic spokespeople to the powers-that-be.

So as election day looms near, by all means go and support the Republican, or the Democrat, or the Green or Reform party, but above all, be a Christian! Bring your faith, bring your God-centered vision for the world, bring your Christian values with you into the political process. Don’t let the politicians shape you, but work hard at shaping them into leaders who are sensitive to the righteousness of God. I believe this is the foundational legacy of America - the potential to be a light shining on a hill. And you and I can make that light shine brighter.

So I'm not going to suggest who you ought to vote for - I think all the political parties desperately need the influence of faithful people like you! But I am going to invite you to join me on Tuesday in going to the polls and, with your hand, casting a vote for the candidate you support, but with your heart, pulling the lever for Jesus.

And, in so doing, I hope you can lift your attention above the political fray to catch a higher vision of who and what we can become. In today's reading from the book of Hebrews, we discover a compelling example of what a nation, or a state, or a neighborhood, or a church, or a family, or an individual person can be. It's found in this amazing passage that continues the discussion of Jesus' role as our great high priest. And although the passage is a bit confusing and hard to understand, it boils down to this: the author of Hebrews wanted the early Christians to know one thing above all other things about Jesus and ourselves - together, we are to be a redemptive community!

Now those of you who are students of the New Testament know that the early Christians had a hard time with this. Despite all of Christ's love toward them, they found lots of excuses to be unloving toward others. The early church found it easy to be judgmental, and unforgiving, and to find reasons to exclude people. And that's one of the reasons the author of Hebrews and other early Christian leaders made such a fuss about the importance of understanding who Jesus really is and what Jesus really did.

Jesus paid it all. However you want to describe it or understand it, the foundational truth of the Christian faith is that Jesus has obtained redemption for the world, and now has become the source of redeeming love to all who will receive. And we who have experienced redemption - whoever we are and wherever we live - are to dedicate our lives to giving away this redemptive love to others. We are to be a redemptive community. But what does this mean?

First, it means that we recognize that life is hard, and people need help. Hebrews tells us that Jesus did not simply obtain redemption for himself, but in receiving redemption, Jesus chose to share it with others so that they could be set free.

Do you remember that old, terrible TV commercial portraying an elderly person laying on the floor, pitifully calling out, "Help! I've fallen, and I can't get up!"? Well, if you can look beyond the atrocious acting of that commercial, you will discover a great redemptive truth. There are people in the world around us who can't get up by themselves. And one of the basic building blocks of becoming a redemptive community is to recognize that life is hard, and others need our help, and then to figure out creative ways to help them!

In this political year, I'm happy to say, this redemptive value is at the heart of much of the debate. And it is to our credit as a nation that it is. How can we be most helpful to those among us who are vulnerable - senior citizens, children, people who struggle to make a living? How do we provide help without enabling destructive behavior, or making people overly dependent? These are some of the questions at the heart of the dialogue about Social Security, and education, and building strong families.

As a society, we must make a commitment to help each other along the way!

A second feature of the redemptive community is that it is inclusive. No one is excluded. Not blacks. Or whites. Not poor. Or rich. Not straight people. Or gay people. Not good people. Or even bad people. The redemptive community believes that God's love is for everyone, and members of this community work hard at bringing people in to taste the goodness of the Lord.

One of the boards I sit on is the Loudon County Health Improvement Council which is superbly chaired by our own Jim Hamilton. At our meeting the other day, I received one of those little daily gifts that make you feel that there really is some goodness in the world. One of our members is named Evelyn, and she's lived here in Loudon County for just about forever. A couple of us were chatting with Evelyn after the meeting was adjourned, and she asked us where we were from. I guess I don't sound like I'm from East Tennessee. Well, I told Evelyn I was from Massachusetts and had been here five years, and the other person said she was from New York and had lived here for nine years.

Now, you know that there are some distinctions made between the natives of this area and us northerners. There are some local folks who still feel betrayed by the land deal that created this village. There are still some strong resentments. So I wasn't sure how Evelyn was going to respond.

Well, Evelyn smiled a beautiful smile. And then she said something neat. "We are so fortunate," she beamed, "to have people like you come to our area and want to get involved in helping to make the county a better place. We are truly blessed to have you!" And with that smile and those words, Evelyn reached out across all the acrimony of the past and pulled us into the family.

In the redemptive community, value is placed upon each person, and effort is made to include them as important parts of the whole. And it's a challenge to accomplish this, especially when the others are not like us, or we feel they are not deserving of inclusion. But Jesus made it clear - God's love includes the poor, the addicted, the misdirected, the sinner, and even the prisoner. And our task is to find creative ways to stretch our arms wide enough to pull them into our family, and into the loving presence of God.

And finally, the redemptive community believes that God's love can genuinely transform human lives. We are to be a healing community.

And that means more than just altering the outward circumstances of peoples' lives.

I encountered a great illustration of this, courtesy of an email received by Pat Ouderkirk our church office manager. Pat and John, you know, used to work for the Michigan Department of Transportation - MDOT. Seems a phone call came into the Grand Region office from a woman complaining about the Deer Crossing sign in front of her house. Mind you, she wasn't complaining about the sign, but about the location. You see, the deer that get hit end up in her front yard. And, if MDOT could only move the sign further down the street, maybe the deer would cross there…

One of the great dangers in an election year is the temptation to believe that peoples' lives can be truly changed by merely moving the signs. Yes, one way or another, we will have a new administration in Washington come next January. But that alone will not transform racism into brotherhood, violence into peace, despair into hope, selfishness into selflessness, hatred into love. No, it takes much more than a change of Presidents to do these things.

It takes you. And it takes me. And, most of all, it takes God who alone has the power to change human hearts. The redemptive community is one that’s always trying to fix people up with God, to seek not only help, not only inclusion, but true transformation of human lives. Our job is to point the way to God.

So we are called to be more than the government alone can be. We are called to be the redemptive community - where people help each other along the way, and reach out to include everyone, and turn each others' eyes to the One who has the power to transform darkness into light, hurt into healing, and evil into good.

So go and do your civic duty this week, and let your faith shape the choices you make. And let’s renew our efforts to be a community of people who work hard at bestowing God’s redeeming love on everyone we meet.

And if you are here today needing some kind of help yourself, would you please let us know? We'll try our best to help you in Jesus' name. And if you are here today, feeling like you’re sitting way out on the fringes of life and you don't really belong, come and join us at our family table. And, if you’re here this morning, feeling spiritually empty, and worn out from facing the great problems of life, may I introduce you to Jesus who not only lived long ago, but who lives even today as One you can turn to for help. Open your heart to his redeeming love!