Community Church Sermons
First Sunday After Epiphany – January 12, 2003
“A Faith Worth Finding:
Giving Voice To The Waters”
Mark 1:1-11
I’ll always remember the day I saw Jack cry.
It was the most amazing thing.
There we were, standing – and shivering - on a frigid, wind-swept hillside in the most barren and remote part of Hope Cemetery. It was the place reserved for the burial of paupers – the poorest of the poor – the most alone of those who are left alone in this world. There were no headstones in this part of the cemetery. No neatly planted shrubbery. No indication at all that anyone even cared about those who were buried there.
Jack, the funeral director, supervised his four assistants as they placed in straps suspended over the open grave the gray, cloth covered cardboard casket of a man none of us had ever met. His name was the only thing we knew. He had died - all alone - in one of the nursing homes that accepted people like him. He had no family, no friends, no money, no nothing.
After securing the casket in place, Jack and his men, dressed in their heavy black overcoats, stood at attention. And the service began. We read the promises of Scripture. We offered prayer. Then I expressed to this small group of shiverers how very important it was that we were there. After all, we represented all the people whose lives had been touched by this unknown man. We stood in the place of family members, and friends, and neighbors, and co-workers who no longer had voice and could not testify to the significance of this man’s life on earth. I invited them to imagine with me the joy of his parents on the day he was born – the sound of he and his siblings growing up together through childhood – the day he went off to school for the first time – the sound of his laughter among friends – the beauty of falling in love for the first time – the things his hands had made. We talked a little about how sometimes life leads us to moments when we are cut off from those to whom we belong, and there is no one to weep for us, no one to grieve for us, no voice to say, “Thank you! I remember you! I love you!” Sometimes, you see, people die all alone.
Then I read Jesus’ words from
Matthew 10 where the Lord says a wonderful thing – not even a small, seemingly
insignificant sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing, and
caring. And Jesus says, “If God cares so much for sparrows that sell for a
dime a dozen, how much more does God care for you!”
And that’s when I saw the tears start to trickle down Jack’s cheek.
Later, back in the warmth of the car, I asked, “Gee Jack, what was that all about?” I mean, Jack is a very professional funeral director who’s been in the business for dozens of years, and is not one to let his emotions get in the way – let alone at the funeral of an unknown pauper.
This is what Jack said: “You
know, I’ve always felt in my heart it was important to do these kinds of
funerals. I’m about the only director in the city who’ll do them anymore, and I
lose money every time I do. But something deep inside has always told me this
is important. And today when you read the thing about the lonely sparrow
falling to the ground, I knew. I knew why I do this.”
And then Jack said, “Standing there today, I realized we are the living proof that God really does love little sparrows, and that this man who means nothing to anyone here, means the world to God!!”
----
One of the reasons I am a
Christian – apart from all the wonder and beauty of what the Lord has done for
me – is because Christianity is a faith with a magnificent reach. Not
one sparrow – not one human being – is beyond the love of God! And the work of
God, and of God’s followers in the world, is to live out that promise every day
by reaching out and enfolding into the love of God – all the little sparrows
around us!
As Jack said, “We ARE the
living proof that people mean something to God!”
And today’s Scripture lesson is a wonderful teaching that calls us to reach out and invite people into this faith worth finding.
The Gospel of Mark opens with these words:
Now what this means is that, in what follows in the first chapter of Mark, we’re going to see what the Good News is all about. In the story Mark is about to tell us, we’re going to discover one of the reasons this is a faith worth finding!
And the story Mark tells is this story about Jesus’ baptism. And you know how it goes.
John the Baptizer is out in the remote areas of the Jordan River enlisting people to join God’s cause. He is telling the people that there is no sin too great to be forgiven, no person too bad to be loved, no person so lost that they cannot be found. He is preaching about the possibility of forgiveness, and new beginnings, and new life, and inviting people to come and accept it through the sign of receiving baptism. And people do come! From all over they come! And John welcomes them all – farmers and merchants, freemen and slaves, women and men, grown-ups and children, politicians and soldiers, the well and the sick, religious leaders and tax collectors, police officers and prostitutes – John welcomes them all! And John immerses them in the waters of the Jordan River.
But what does it all mean? What does it mean to be baptized?
Well, just then, another man steps out from among the people. He is just another face in the crowd. Just another one of the people gathered by the river. And his name is Jesus.
You know, the Bible tells us something interesting about Jesus. It tells us that Jesus is the Son of God. Having just come through the Christmas season, we pretty much know what that means. But the Bible also says that Jesus is the Son of man. Do you know what it means when we say that? That Jesus is the “Son of man?”
Well, the Hebrew word for “man” is….ADAM!.
Adam! Remember him? The guy from the Garden of Eden?
And just who might be the sons – and daughters - of Adam?
Why, WE are! Humanity is! You and me. My old friend Jack. The pauper we buried that day. Your kids. My grandson. Our neighbors. Americans. Iraqis. Muslims. Christians. Even atheists.
We are the children of Adam!
So when the Bible says that Jesus is the Son of Adam, it means that Jesus is the representative of US! When we look at Jesus in this story, we can see and learn something about ourselves!
So Jesus – playing the role of you and me – steps out of the crowd. He walks over to the water’s edge. John takes him by the hand, and leads him into the river. And John lowers him beneath the surface. And then John raises him up.
And in that moment, Mark tells us, something earth shattering happens. The heavens open, the Spirit descends like a dove, and God’s voice thunders, “YOU ARE MY BELOVED SON!!!!!!!”
You see, in our faith, this water has a voice. In our reading from Psalm 29, we read:
“Ascribe to the Lord…glory and strength…ascribe to the Lord glory…The voice of the Lord is over the waters…the Lord thunders over the mighty waters….The voice of the Lord is powerful…the voice of the Lord is majestic…the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars…the voice of the Lord shakes the desert…the voice of the Lord twists the oaks…and in his temple, all cry, ‘GLORY!’”
Psalm 29 excerpts
And is it any wonder why? For the
voice of the Lord that thunders in the waters of Jesus’ baptism is a voice
speaking to all of the sons and daughters of Adam. It is the voice of God
saying to you and to me and to everyone, “I LOVE YOU, AND CLAIM YOU AS
MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY!!!”
That’s one of the reasons this is
a faith worth finding. The very act that defines who we are as a Christian
community – Baptism – is the act of God reaching out in a wonderful act of
inclusion. We are loved and claimed as members of God’s family!
You know, one of the people I truly admire in life is our dear friend and church member Bill Williams. I admire Bill for many reasons, but one of the things I’m most impressed with is the work Bill began years ago through the NBC television affiliate where he served as news anchor.
Monday’s Child.
Every Monday, Bill did – and still does - a piece that features orphaned children. Bill tells their story, and shares about how wonderful it will be for these children to be adopted by a loving family. And do you know what? Monday’s Child has something like an 85% success rate! Hundreds of children have been adopted into families where they are loved, and nurtured, and cared for, and have a chance now to grow into all their God-given potential. Isn’t that wonderful?
And that’s why our faith is so
worth finding! You see, that’s what the church is supposed to be like. We are
the world’s largest adoption agency – reaching out all around us to find people
who need God’s love, and bringing them into a family where they can belong, and
be known, and valued, and taken care
of, and helped to grow, and come to know Jesus Christ. In fact, this is exactly
what Jesus meant when he told the disciples to “go into all the world and
make disciples of all nations…HOW?…well, by BAPTIZING them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...”
In other words, the job of our church is to reach out to people all around us, and give voice to the waters of our Baptism.
“I LOVE YOU, AND CLAIM YOU FOR
MY FAMILY!”
When I first came to Tellico Village, our founding Pastor Carl Burke sat down with me one day and shared some thoughts about the beginnings of this church family. Fifteen years ago, Tellico Village was just getting started. Not very much was here. A handful of people had moved in. And, Carl told me, he discovered they were lonely.
All of them had pulled up roots to move here. They had left behind support networks and friends and children. Many of the people worried about whether they’d done the right thing to move here. They felt vulnerable. Isolated. Alone.
And into that setting, God breathed the idea of a church - a fellowship that claimed people in Christ’s love – a family that would care for and support them – a community that would give voice to the waters of baptism, “I LOVE YOU! YOU ARE MY CHILD!”
And here we are fifteen years later!
You know, the other day, one of our church members told us about someone in our community who’s been going through a really rough time lately. First, there was the loss of a spouse. Then came some serious health problems. And as this word filtered in to us, our brand new Parish Nurse – Mary McNeil – said, “I need to go check on him, and see how we can help.”
I wish every person outside the church could be claimed by a love like that!
Last week, Bob Puckett expressed thanks to all who have been praying for his son Philip who’s been hospitalized and facing many challenges. Bob said that he and Jane truly felt upheld and strengthened by your prayers and offers of help.
I wish everyone going through rough times could be claimed by a love like that!
Steve was telling me about our Wednesday night Logos program, and how there are as many adults leading it as there are children in it! It’s about a 1-to-1 ratio! And the remarkable thing is that few of the adults involved have young children of their own anymore. But they believe young families and children today need the loving involvement of other Christians.
I wish every child – every family raising children – could be claimed by a love like that!
Looking out over our congregation, I see so many who will participate in our Christian Education program this semester. You know that my goal is to get 100% of the congregation involved in Sunday School of some kind. And as I look out at you today, I notice that not all of you have all your theological ducks in order! Why, there are doubters in the bunch! There are skeptics in the mix! There are folks who don’t know diddlysquat about the Bible, and aren’t even sure they want to! But you are welcomed here. You can come and ask your questions, and search for God at your own pace. And we’ll trust that God will get you to where you need to be!
I wish every searcher could be claimed by a family like that!
And let me show you something today. This little plaque was presented to us this week by the Child Advocacy Center. It is a simple tile mounted on some beautiful wood, and on the tile is the handprint of one of the children who has been helped at the Center. Imagine that? This is the handprint of an abused child. And in the middle of the palm is a little green heart that seems to say, “I love you!” The inscription reads “With heartfelt gratitude to the people of the Community Church at Tellico Village. Your love and generosity made the Child Advocacy Center a reality.” And just this week, I learned that our special Christmas Eve offering for the Center raised about $7,000 for that most important work!
I wish every abused child, every neglected child, every abandoned child in our world could know the love of a family like you!
That's why we have a faith that's worth finding! That's why we have a Gospel worth preaching! That's why we have a Jesus worth sharing!
Because all around us is a world of humanity desperately needing to hear the voice of the waters saying, "I LOVE YOU! YOU ARE MY OWN CHILD! WELCOME! COME IN TO A FAMILY IN WHICH YOU CAN BELONG!"
So let me ask you like I've been asking every week in this year, can I recruit you for the ministry of claiming people in Christ’s love, and inviting them into this beautiful family? And can I enlist you in the day to day work of developing all sorts of creative ways to nurture our family members in Christian faith and love?
You know, I really think Jack had it right. We ARE the living proof that people mean something to God!
We have a faith worth finding!
Now you have to go, and share it!