Community Church Sermons
February 26, 2006
Mark 9:2-9
Sally was likely dead before she hit the floor. One minute she was laughing with co-workers. The next minute she lay crumpled at their feet. The paramedics came, but their efforts were to no avail. Sally was likely dead before she hit the floor.
Her death truly shook the pastor who was asked to speak at her funeral. He had known Sally for some time, and had judged her harshly. Her irresponsible and faithless life did not seem deserving of anything other than condemnation and disrespect. And now she was dead. What do you say at the funeral of someone for whom you believe hell would be a fitting end – a probable end?
And yet, in preparing to speak at Sally’s funeral, he began to learn things he’d never known about her. He discovered that her life had been every bit as cruel as her death. He came to understand that his opinion of her had been unfair. And he found that his own faith was shaken by her death…
…and needed to change.[1]
We’ll get back to Sally’s story in just a few moments, but first let’s take a look at today’s Scripture lesson. It is the famous story of the Transfiguration. Jesus takes Peter, James and John on a hike up into the mountains one night. While they are there, SOMETHING happens! It is as if the doorway separating heaven and earth is suddenly swung open, and before the very eyes of the disciples, Jesus is bathed in heavenly light. Do you get the picture?
And in that light-filled doorway between heaven and earth stand Moses and Elijah – both long dead – and they join Jesus in deep conversation. Can you hear the theme music from “The Twilight Zone” playing in the background?
Peter and James and John are blinded by the light and stunned. They don’t know what to do, or what to say. Finally, Peter pipes up and says, “What an awesome experience! Let’s build a shrine to it! We’ll have one for Jesus – one for Moses – and one for Elijah. And right over there, we’ll build a resort hotel, a championship golf course, and a gift shop!” I’m embellishing a little.
Suddenly, God’s voice thunders on the mountain.
“Hush up! This is my Son whom I love. Listen to him!”
And suddenly, as quickly as it had swung open, the doorway between heaven and earth swung closed. The disciples and Jesus were by themselves, and it was pitch black again way up there on the mountain.
The Transfiguration of Jesus was a life-changing experience for the followers of Jesus. When that doorway between heaven and earth swung open, they saw in the radiant light something about Jesus they had never seen before. The Gospelwriters all describe it as his “glory” and this glory is the very experience that John the Gospelwriter has in mind when he writes that beautiful prologue that we often read on Christmas Eve - “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…” And that famous passage goes to say:
“In him was life and the life was the light of men! The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it!”
And
then the passage concludes:
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Full of grace…and truth.
What was the radiant glory the disciples saw in Jesus on the mountain that night as they stood in the doorway between heaven and earth?
Well, they saw God’s grace!
One of the reasons we should all love Presbyterians (if you’re sitting near one you just might want to give them a hug) is because they – perhaps even more than the rest of us – have centered their theology on grace. John Calvin’s great contribution to the Reformation was the anchoring of faith not in the actions of people, but in the actions of God. The heart and soul of salvation is not in what YOU do. It is the unconditional love of God reaching out to you, wooing you, calling you, drawing you into the healing experience of God’s amazing grace and the life God intends for you. And as a result of GOD’S love touching your life, you then respond to God and move toward God. This is what we call faith. Faith is our response to God’s grace! You are here today because God has quietly moved in your life and put it into your heart to come and worship. Do you know that? Your first thought of coming to church today was God’s whisper! And so you set the alarm and got yourself here! GRACE – followed by faith!! Why do you suppose God drew you here today?
The Prodigal Son – do you remember him? – is far away from home. He is lost as lost can be, having burned his bridges to his family, and squandered his inheritance in “profligate” living which means that he has tasted every item on the menu of sin. This boy is a loser. Homeless, hungry, and destitute, he ends up working on a pig farm - which only adds insult to injury because you know how Jewish people feel about pork, right?
And yet, even while he wallows in the pig-sty of his own self-made misery, he hears a whisper in his heart.
“Come home.”
Grace at work!
So the boy swallows what’s left of his pride and heads home. And the story goes that while he is still a long ways off, the same father he rejected sees him in the distance. And his dad leaps off the porch and runs as fast as he can to welcome the boy home! Mind you, it is not the boy who is running to meet his dad, but his dad who is running to meet the boy – with open arms!
Grace at work!
The boy is overwhelmed with guilt and offers to become his father’s servant. But the father refuses the offer. Instead, he wraps the boy up in a robe of honor, and puts the family ring back on his finger, and orders a great big “Welcome Home” party for the boy who once was lost, but now is found.
Grace at work!
We live in a world that is invaded by the light of God’s grace. In so many moments and points in our lives, that doorway between heaven and earth is swung open, and God reaches out to you and me in love – unconditional love –wooing us home, inviting us more deeply into relationship with God, and leading us more fully into the abundance of the life God desires us to have.
That’s why, when you go outside at night and look up at the starry host, your thoughts turn toward eternity! Do you know what I mean? That is grace tugging at you!
Grace - God’s relentless and unconditional love - is at
work in our world!
And that brings us back to Sally, and the pastor who was asked to speak at her funeral. Oh, he knew her well as a prodigal, lost out there in the world of sin. But through her family, he was about to learn things about Sally he’d never known before.
Her father deserted her when she was three. Her mother tried to fill the void with a parade of other men, none of whom wanted Sally around. She was passed from aunt to cousin to grandmother. She was shuffled from school to school and town to town, never staying long enough to make friends. Probably it was this loneliness and need for love that led Sally to marry young - too young.
Three babies came. Then the boy-husband left. She had no skills, and no diploma. Sally did what she could to survive – bad jobs were followed by worse jobs – the bad husband was replaced by abusive boyfriends. Alcohol and drugs came into play and sped her descent into the abyss. The bottom was hit when she was 32-years old, the mother of five, unemployed, and living off the leftovers of neighbors and relatives. One day, Sally slept in with a hangover. She woke up to find her youngest daughter drowned in the swimming pool next door.
That’s when he had first met Sally. They asked him to do the daughter’s funeral. So he did, seething all the while in anger over how this woman’s irresponsible behavior had brought about such an unspeakable tragedy. Sally even had the nerve to tell him she felt as if she’d been abandoned by God. Doing his religious duty, he offered her trite and perfunctory words of comfort, assuring her that God was with her and loved her. But he said it through gritted teeth, and he didn’t really believe it.
He performed the daughter’s funeral. Afterwards, Sally stood by her daughter’s casket, weeping. “There’s no reason to live. No reason at all,” she sobbed. He didn’t care whether she lived or not.
But Sally – it turned out - was wrong.
Much to the surprise of the pastor who’d performed her daughter’s funeral, after her own death five years later, those who knew her best– her children and her mother – told him that those last five years turned out to be Sally’s best and happiest years.
“How can that be?” he wondered.
Well, in the days after her daughter’s death, something happened to Sally. For some unknown reason, she suddenly repented! It was not in the way you and I often think of repentance, with a crushed spirit and a tearful run down the aisle at an altar call. It was more along the line of what repentance really is supposed to be – a turning around. Sally turned her life in another direction. She turned from thoughts of suicide. She turned from crippling self-pity. She moved to a small town. She took care of her children. She found a job. Then she found a better one. She bought a car. She bought a house. She planted flowers. She even planted a tree in the yard. She made friends. She made peace with her family. Life wasn’t perfect, but Sally had turned from despair.
And then one day, Sally told her son of a new and surprising desire.
“I think I’m going to look for a church,” Sally said.
Before she got the chance, though, Sally died. She was probably dead before she hit the floor.
What would you say about Sally if you were the one asked to speak at her funeral?
To many Christians, Sally’s destiny would be an easy judgment. Having never accepted Christ, Christ would not accept her. Most of us grew up believing that we humans are destined for either heaven or hell. Only those who confess their sins and accept Jesus as their Savior before they die will live with God forever. All the rest will suffer hell’s eternal torment.
As children, we never questioned this formula. It was simple and clear. And many of us have had no problem carrying it with us into adulthood.
Until we meet someone like Sally.
Sally had spent her whole life climbing out of hell. Why would we wish for her to return? In response to the prayers of many people, she had turned from the path of destruction. She’d been asking, seeking, and knocking. Like the Prodigal Son, Sally had turned for home. But just as she approached the threshold, would God now slam the door in her face?
What would you say at Sally’s funeral?
Here’s what the pastor discovered as he prayed for God’s guidance about what to say about Sally.
God loved Sally far more than he did. God had been there when she cried herself to sleep as a little girl. God had been there when she was abused and rejected by those around her. God had been there when her happiness turned out to be only more misery. God had been there in the moment of her greatest despair. God had been there, calling out to Sally, when she determined to turn her life around.
When everyone else in the world had given up on Sally, God never gave up on Sally.
So at her funeral service the next day, the pastor spoke about grace.
He read the story of that Prodigal Son – of a child who wandered far away before turning toward home - and of a father waiting, hoping, and longing.
This is what he said:
“Some people think that God sits on a throne holding fast to holiness and justice, waiting for us to grovel at his feet. But last night, as I thought about Sally, I remembered another prodigal’s homecoming. I realized God is never content to wait on his throne. God was standing at the door watching for Sally, just as surely as the father watched for his prodigal. And while she was still at a distance, God saw her and had compassion. God ran and embraced Sally. God welcomed her home.”
And to you and me, this pastor later confides, “In the telling, I knew it to be true.”
They beheld his glory, full of grace and truth. Sally beheld his glory, too..
The greatest truth you can know about God is that God is gracious. The greatest truth you can know about what it means to live as a Christian is that we are called to practice the ministry of grace.
Why Church? That’s the question we’ve been asking this month. Today is our last shot at the question. I hope today’s answer is clear.
Why Church? Because this world is filled to overflowing with the dark religion of judgment, condemnation, and exclusion. This world is overrun by religion that delights in sending people to hell.
Why Church? Because people need a community that believes in grace, and that works hard to open the doorway between heaven and earth so that all the Sally’s of this world can catch a glimpse of God’s glory in Jesus Christ – so all the Sally’s of this world can experience grace, and find their way home.
Are we such a church?
What must we do to make it so?
[1] Sally’s story is excerpted from the opening chapter of “If Grace Is True” by Philip Gulley and James Mulholland, HarperSanFrancisco, 2004