Community Church Sermons
November
2, 2008 – 8:00 Service
Pentecost 25
Matthew 23:1-12
Rev. Dr. R. Tim Meadows
Today is All Saints’ Sunday. The day
we pause each year to remember those now gone from our presence whose
contributions have enriched our lives beyond measure. This is a day of
remembrance. This is a day of reflection. This is a day of accountability. As
we honor those who have been faithful on this day, we also commit ourselves to
sustaining and enriching the legacies we have inherited.
In today’s New Testament lesson,
Jesus is confronting a group that has forgotten, that does not reflect, that is
not accountable to the legacies which they have inherited. Jesus notes that
they assume and exercise the authority of the legacy they inherited, but not in
a faithful way. They teach but they do not faithfully practice their legacy.
They engage in religious showmanship but it is not faithful to their legacy.
They revel in receiving and being addressed by titles of respect they have not
earned. They have hijacked the tradition and are taking it where they want it
to go, but Jesus says wait a minute, not so fast, STOP! In The Name Of
Accountability! This is where we are this All Saints’ Sunday - - - at a place
of accountability. You might ask the question; for what are we accountable? to
whom are we accountable? why does our
accountability matter? Whether you ask
those questions or not, they are the questions I intend to explore in our time
together today.
For What Are We Accountable: We are
accountable for the mission of the church. To love God and love others, to
serve God and serve our community, to be as inclusive as the love of God. No
matter what buildings we occupy, or which names and faces are present for worship,
this is the task for which we are accountable.
To Whom Are We Accountable: We are
accountable to Jesus to exemplify the goodness of his life, to walk as he
walked, to love, forgive, and offer ourselves to the world as Jesus did - - -
especially those at the margins of the world for whom no one else will care. We
are accountable to the church throughout the world. To work in partnership, to
faithfully minister, to overcome the darkness. Each Sunday as we gather before
this service to pray for the events of the day, Bob Puckett never fails to pray
for the church throughout the world, each Sunday this reminds me of our
accountability to the church throughout the world. We are not in this journey
alone! We are accountable to those faithful people whose vision became the
Tellico Village Community Church. From those first eleven who met in village
homes, to that slightly larger group whose faith and vision gave life to our
current facilities and shape to much of our current ministry. We must honor
their memory, salute their faithfulness, and continue to expand their vision to
change Loudon County, Tennessee, and the world, for the better.
Why Does Our Accountability Matter:
Our accountability matters because; hatred requires love, injury requires
pardon, doubt requires faith, despair requires hope, darkness requires light,
and sadness requires joy - - - and we are the instruments of God to accomplish
these things in the world. If the Kingdom of God is to come on Earth as it is
in Heaven, it is up to us! Our accountability matters because those who came
before us have trusted us with a great legacy, and those who will come after
us, will look to our models for faithful direction for their journeys with God.
We close our WednesdayChurch!
services each week with a portion of the modern hymn “May Those Who Come Behind Us Find
Us Faithful”. They will if we are accountable to those saints we
celebrate on this day who went before us. May God give us the grace to be
accountable to the great saints of our past, as we become the saints that those
in the future will look to in days to come. AMEN!