Rich Toward God

 

Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Luke 12:13-21
July 31, 2022

Loving God, open our hearts this day, as we proclaim your holy word.
As we offer praise and thanksgiving, in response to your abundant acts of love, challenge us to seek the values of heaven over the trappings of this world. May the words we experience this day call us to a rich relationship with you, as we learn to live out the calling of our baptism,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Rich Toward God

 

Today, Jesus exposes our human greed and anxiety about money and then he uses a parable to singe away any illusion that the godly life is synonymous with the American ideals of prosperity and success.

His barns were already bursting to overflowing when a rich man harvests another bumper crop with no place to store it.  Wanting to keep his bounty all for himself, and not being concerned with waste, he decides to tear down the old barns which are not big enough and build larger ones that will store all his crops.  Then he is going to sit back and enjoy all his excess.  If you want to know how not to live as a follower of Jesus, be just like this farmer. 

Greed is a problem because it focuses on the self and keeps people from being rich toward God and rich toward others.  The human propensity toward greed stands in striking contrast to God’s providential care for others. 

Frugal-minded folks have long stashed excess food and supplies in pantries and basement shelves for rainy days and squirreled away funds for retirement.  Some have even hidden money under mattresses and in cookies jars just in case of economic uncertainty. [1]   And we are certainly in one of those times now.

After all, isn’t this what young Joseph advised Pharaoh to do after interpreting a dream to mean seven years of plenty and seven years of famine in Genesis?  He recommended storing up excess during the years of excess so that there would be enough for everybody in the lean years.  It saved Egypt during the famine, and it saved Joseph’s father and brothers from starvation.[2]

It seems reasonable that this man deserves to “eat, drink, and be merry” in celebration of his extreme good fortune.  There are all sorts of feasts and parties throughout the Bible that give ample evidence for the practice of celebrating the harvest or rejoicing at signs of good fortune.  So, what is the problem?

 Appropriate concern for the future needs to be balanced with the Biblical call to give glory to God and to care for our neighbor, to provide for the poor and marginalized, for those without access to the world’s wealth or even to basic needs of survival.  In this parable, the man does not demonstrate any aspect of faithful stewardship – either returning to God a portion of his good fortune or caring for his neighbors.  He is completely focused on himself and has forgotten about God who gave him the good fortune of the bountiful harvest and he has forgotten about his neighbors who have not had the same good fortune.  The  man has become so self-centered, so greedy that he cannot see beyond what he considers to be “his harvest, “his barns,” and “his own life.”

You see it is not the man’s good fortune that is the problem.  It is not the man’s wealth that is the problem.  It is not money that is the problem.  It is what money and good fortune do to us; how they make us behave; who they make us become.

You might be sitting there feeling pretty good.  I’m not wealthy  you might be saying to yourself.  This sermon is not about me.  But we know better than that, don’t we?  Scripture applies to all of us so this passage about greed and anxiety about money applies to all of us as well.  I’ve never had much money and just from my personal experience I know that you don’t have to be rich to feel greedy and have anxiety about money. 

When my husband first left the girls and I, I was not working.  Tracy was only a few days old, and I had been staying home with Jessica.  I lived off my income from selling my CPA practice for a few months so I could be home with my newborn and confused 2-year-old.  But then he emptied our savings account and literally left me penniless.  So, I found a job and after paying for daycare and my mortgage and utilities, I had little left for food and other necessities.  We struggled. 

I stopped giving to the church because I just felt like I didn’t have any money.  I worried so much, and I kept every penny for myself.  I didn’t feel like I was being greedy, but I was afraid to let go.  I was afraid to let go and trust God. 

Then Pastor Sheryl preached a sermon that really convicted me.  She used Deuteronomy 26 – First Fruits and Tithing and preached about setting aside God’s portion first and then paying your bills. In her sermon,  Sheryl said that when you give first, you will always have enough left to pay for your obligations. 

That really spoke to me, and so I prayed about it and decided to try it. I prayed about how much I should give each pay period.  It scared me; I’ll be honest. The amount I felt God telling me to give felt like too much, but I decided to trust. I started doing it and you know, I always had enough.  In fact, I had money left over.  Not a lot!  But I had some.  God was good.  He always provided for us.  Often in very unexpected ways.  But my children were always fed and clothed and we always had what we needed.    

I’ll admit, I’ve never had a big savings account and I’ve struggled most of my life, but God has always provided.  And I’ve always had enough.  And I’ve always had a heart to help others and give to God.  And it feels good to me.  It feels right to me.  It’s the way I want to live.  It’s my decision, my choice. 

Money is always about more than money.  Our spending, our saving, and our general attitude toward material wealth are all invested with emotions and memories.  A capacity to trust God can deepen only as other matters lessen their grip on our lives.[3]

When it comes to money and worldly treasures, what values do you carry forward from your childhood?  Does a  commitment to a life rich toward God that will draw you into a sense of deep and abiding joy and deepen your relationship with Christ interest you?   This parable calls on all of us to reflect carefully about what we want and why we want it.  Are our desires and standards for what is enough driven by a determination to store up treasures for our own pleasure, or by our understanding of God’s blessings and our true purpose in life? Will we measure our lives by the standards of the world seducing us to want more and more, or by the call of the gospel to be rich toward God?[4]  Let us pray:

Loving God.  Help us to trust you in all things, including our finances.  Help us to remember that you are the provider of all things in our lives, including our ability to earn money and provide for our needs. Teach us to trust you will provide each and every day.  In Jesus name. Amen.

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[1] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and the Season After Pentecost 1.  Luke 12:13-21.  Theological Perspective.  Audrey West.  P. 312.[2] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and the Season After Pentecost 1.  Luke 12:13-21.  Theological Perspective.  Audrey West.  P.312. 
[3] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and the Season After Pentecost 1.  Luke 12:13-21.  Pastoral Perspective.  Patricia J. Lull.  P. 312.[4] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and the Season After Pentecost 1.  Luke 12:13-21.  Theological Perspective.  Audrey West.  P. 314

Are We Too Busy to Listen?

 Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Luke 10:38-42
July 17, 2022

Like a true friend, Lord, you have not withheld the wisdom of your word. Like a true friend, Lord, you have given us the nourishment and strength for the living of these days. Help us to hear what you have for us today.  Amen.

 

Are We Too Busy to Listen?

 

My mother was a perfectionist. Our house always looked perfect.  We had a long list of chores every day after school and Saturdays we worked all morning and sometimes into the afternoon.

Every night after dinner, the stove got taken apart and all the burner pans were washed, and the stove completely cleaned.  The floor was swept, including of course moving all the chairs and sweeping under the table.  The kitchen was spotless. 

We vacuumed the floors daily and dusted and on Saturdays washed the floors on our hands and knees and cleaned the bathrooms like you’ve never seen.  And Mom was there to inspect. 

When I got married, I thought I had to do the same thing.  And when I had children, and my husband left, I would do all these things after I had put my babies to bed.  I was exhausted and I was cleaning rather than sleeping.  But I thought my house had to be spotless. 

I couldn’t have anyone over unless I had planned the meal out carefully and had prepared for days – because that’s what Mom did.  Until I met Bonnie.

Bonnie and I met in preschool when Jessica and her daughter Taylor were barely two and I was very pregnant with Tracy.  One day Bonnie invited Jessica and I over for lunch after preschool.  When we got to her house, I noticed a basket of unfolded laundry on her couch, and honestly, I was a bit embarrassed for her.  I thought, oh dear.  I bet she forgot she left that there.  But Bonnie didn’t seem to notice or care.  Then she rattled around in her refrigerator looking for something to fix for lunch.  I was surprised that she didn’t have something prepared when she invited us to come over.

Jessica and I had the best time that day.  Jessica and Taylor played and had fun and Bonnie and I visited.  We laughed and shared frustrations of having two-year-olds. To this day, Bonnie and I are great friends and so are Jessica and Taylor. In fact when I got  home, I realized that I hadn’t even cared that she had laundry out and she hadn’t had lunch pre-planned when we got there.  We had a wonderful time.  Jessica had a new friend and so did I.   It was about the company, the friendships, the hospitality. Bonnie taught me that my home did not have to be perfect.  I stopped trying to be perfect that day and my life improved tremendously.  I relaxed about my house.  Maybe too much!

But I can understand Martha’s irritation. You can hear it in her tone.

“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.”  We have all felt like we do all the work and there is someone else who doesn’t help enough but should.

 

I can imagine Martha trying her darn best — cleaning their whole home in preparation for Jesus’ visit; freshening herself up before greeting him,

smiling at the door; delivering carefully prepared platters of broiled fish,  

bread soaked with honey, pomegranates and pickled cucumbers to his table; running back and forth to the kitchen to make sure his wine glass

never ran low. And while Martha does all this, there sits Mary at Jesus’ feet, monopolizing his attention and stealing his approval.[1]

 

Martha is following the expected customs of hospitality. Jesus and his disciples relied on the kindness of strangers as they traveled. When Jesus tells Martha that Mary is right to sit and listen at his feet, he is not saying that Martha should abandon all her hard work of hospitality. Jesus is not saying that we are not to do for others or work hard. But Jesus is saying that we need to take time to just     sit at his feet and listen. We can’t let our busyness take away from time with him.  It’s not a substitute.[2]  

 

Martha’s irritation builds and builds. Out of her frustration comes a question she cracks over Jesus like a whip. “Lord,” she asks, “do you not care?”

 

This exchange feels familiar, like a recurring argument you might have with your spouse or your kids when you feel taken for granted.  No one notices or cares about everything you are doing for them.  They just assume it’s going to be done. Can you relate?

 

Jesus asks more of Martha not because he doesn’t care, but because he does. He appreciates her kindness, but he also wants time with her. Jesus tells Martha that the care she puts into her relationship with him, the time she invests in sitting and listening in his presence, will not be taken away from her. It will come back to her. 

 

My dear friend Bonnie taught me that it’s about relationships and not about how my house looks or how together I am.  I’m so grateful to her.  She gave me a priceless gift.  No one was noticing that my burner plates were spotless or that I had washed my kitchen floor the night before.  It’s about relationships.  It’s about being available.  Available to talk, to listen, to laugh.

 

And that’s what Jesus wants.  Our time.  He doesn’t care what condition we are in.  If we are all together or not.  He wants our time.  To sit with him.  We don’t have to say anything.  We don’t have to do anything.  Just sit in his presence.  Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.”

 

When I was in seminary, I learned a wonderful way to just be with God.  I’d like you to try it with me.  Close your eyes and try to just relax.  Take a deep breath in.  Now exhale.  Listen to my voice.

 

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I am.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be.

 

Now take another deep breath in.  Exhale.  Open your eyes.  How do you feel?

 

I find this a beautiful and relaxing way to begin my quiet time with God. To quiet my thoughts.  To slow down my breathing.  It’s easy to remember. If my mind starts to wander, I just repeat it.  It helps me to close my eyes.  Then I’m ready to just sit and be with God.  To listen. 

 

Jesus wants a relationship with us that will feed every aspect of our lives and work. It’s hard to build a relationship when we are always busy, always on the run, always thinking about what we need to do next.  Believe me, I get it. I don’t have a perfect record at this.  But when I get away from just “being” with God, I miss it.  And my ministry becomes harder and more strained because I’ve moved away from a relationship with the God I serve and turned it into work and doing. 

 

If we invest ourselves in him, the gifts we receive in return will not be taken away.  We can’t afford to be too busy to listen. To miss what He has to say to us.  If we spend time with our God and grow our relationships with Christ, it will lead us to a more balanced life, a quieter presence, a deeper sense of God’s presence in our lives. 

 

It will also have an impact on us as a faith community if we as individuals are spending time listening and being with God. As our individual relationships with God deepen, our faith as a community will deepen and we will become a faith-driven church that truly listens to where God is leading us.  This will help us be more effective in our ministry and be a better presence in our community. We will be a more realistic presence of Jesus wherever we go. 

 

Our lives are full.  Our lives are busy.  We juggle priorities all the time. There’s never enough time to do everything that needs to be done.  But can we afford to be too busy to listen to God?  Amen.

 

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[1] Teri McDowell Ott. https://pres-outlook.org/2022/07/sixth-sunday-after-pentecost-july-17-2022
[2] Teri McDowell Ott. https://pres-outlook.org/2022/07/sixth-sunday-after-pentecost-july-17-2022

Will You Cross the Road?

Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Luke 10:25:37
July 10, 2022 

Our hope is in you, Lord, and in  your gospel, the word of truth that you bring to us. May it bear abundant fruit in our lives. As we grow in faith, help us truly comprehend your grace, O God; help us understand this amazing grace, as we seek to lead lives worthy of you, O Lord. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Will You Cross the Road?

 

You have likely heard this passage many, many times.  If you grew up in the church, you heard it as a child.  In fact, you may have tuned out as I read this Scripture passage just now and thought about your grocery list or what you are going to do after church, or maybe you just let your mind wander.  And I guess I wouldn’t blame you.  Sometimes we need to take a mental break.  And after all,  you’ve heard this before.

We use this passage to teach about being nice.  You may have even used it to teach your own children about what it means to be nice.  To help someone.  To be kind.  But what if I told you that I think that Jesus is trying to teach about something much bigger than just being nice.  I think he is trying to teach about transforming the world. 

Jesus is teaching when he is asked by a lawyer who is once again trying to trick him, “And who is my neighbor?”  Or as Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message, “And just how would you define neighbor?”  You see, that is the big question isn’t it:  Just how would you define neighbor? I think Jesus is responding to the question by teaching that there were three kinds of people traveling along that road between Jerusalem and Jericho.  Depending on which kind of person you are, you can transform the world. Because Jesus defines neighbor differently than we do.

The first type are the robbers, whose ethic suggests that “what is yours is mine at whatever cost”.  The robbers will take whatever they need through violence, coercion and whatever means necessary. These are the people who will leave us physically, mentally and emotionally beaten and bruised along life’s road with nothing left but our shallow breath.

The first type are not just those who are physically harmful.  Or even those who take physical belongings that do not belong to them. They are also the ones who beat us down emotionally or mentally so that they can move ahead of us or control us relationally.   They are the bullies of the world.  The narcissists.  The cheaters.  The, “I’ll do whatever it takes to get what I want, “ people.  I’m sure we’ve all met someone like this.  Perhaps even been hurt by someone like this.

The second type of person to walk along the dangerous road between Jerusalem and Jericho is represented by the priest and the Levite, whose ethic suggests that “what is mine is mine and I must protect it even if it means you get hurt in the process”. They aren’t bad people. Both the priest and the Levite are deeply respected in their communities. They very likely follow all the societal rules and norms. They sit on local boards. They pay their taxes on time and likely coach their son’s or daughter’s teams. They also show a great deal of love to those within their immediate families and immediate communities, but because of what crossing the road to help might cost them, they put their head down and go about their own business. So, without even recognizing it, they do more harm than good. Their focus is inward toward their needs and the needs of those who are most like them. It’s an ethic that leads the good and decent priest and Levite toward a life of valuing their reputations instead of relationships. And it often results with them choosing their own individual rights over the health and well-being of their neighbors. Especially neighbors that are different than they are.

Unfortunately, this is the category where I fall most often throughout my life. And if we’re all being honest, I’d say it’s the category that most of us fall into more than we care to admit. It’s much easier to go out on a limb for people we know, for people we already care about, for people that are just like us than for strangers, especially strangers that are different from us.  People that Jesus says are our neighbors. 

Then there is the Samaritan, whose ethic is love. And walking along one of the most dangerous roads in all of history seems to live by a code that says

“what is mine is yours…if you have need of it, I will give it to you”.

“My safety is yours…if you need it, I will offer it to you.”

“My security is yours…if you need it, it is yours.”

“My resources are yours…if you need them, I will give them to you.”

“My health is tied to your health, I want you to be healthy if I’m to be healthy.”

“My well-being is tied to your well-being, I cannot be whole if you are not whole.”

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. preached on this text often and once said that the real difference between the priest and the Levite from the Samaritan is the question that each must have asked themselves. The priest and the Levite likely asked, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?”. The Samaritan likely asked a very different question - “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?” Do you hear the difference?   If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?  If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?

Fear has a way of making us all behave badly. It was true for the priest and the Levite, and it is still true for us today. When fear is the ethic of our lives, we tend to cling to our own safety and our own individual rights.

When fear is the ethic of our lives, we retreat, we mind our own business and we rarely cross to the other side of the road to help. And when fear is the ethic of our lives, we end up placing our hope in mottos like “We Must Defend Our Rights” or “We Must Protect Ourselves” as opposed to Jesus’ greatest commandment to “Love God and Love Your Neighbor”.

It doesn’t take looking out the window for very long to know that we are all on a road somewhere between Jerusalem and Jericho right now. It’s dangerous out there. The heart-break and exhaustion are real. It’s the pandemic, the  political division, the economy.  It’s all the shootings. 

There was another massacre on the 4^th of July at a parade in Chicago.  People out celebrating, watching a parade.  Seven people were killed and more than 30 injured.  The suspect legally purchased the guns and planned the attack for weeks. After firing more than 70 rounds, he exited the roof, dropped the rifle, slipped into the crowd, and went to his mother’s house. 

There was an article about a two-year old boy named Aiden who was found under his dad’s dying body.  Both his parents had been shot and killed.  His dad had shielded Aiden from the gun fire and saved his life. Aidan’s socks and shoes were socked with their blood but other than that he was not harmed.  Let me restate that.  He was not physically harmed.  The emotional trauma Aiden suffered at 2-years old cannot be understated.  Strangers saw Aiden’s father struggling to breathe and stopped to help him.  They found Aidan and picked him up.  They were escaping the chaos.  They were running from the massacre.  But they put their safety on hold and stopped to help anyway and found this precious child, picked him up, and took him to safety.

I would like to think I would have done the same.  I would like to think that if I were running from the shooting with my precious almost four-year-old Clara and one and a half-year-old beautiful Caleb, I would have still stopped and picked up this child.  I would like to hope that his safety would be as important to me as my own precious grandchildren. 

I thank God that I have not had to find out.  But I pray I would cross that treacherous road from Jerusalem to Jericho and help that child just like those strangers did on this horrible 4^th of July.

Grocery stores, churches, schools, parades. Pure horror.  Fear is everywhere. It’s layers and layers of being beaten and bruised along a dry, hard road.

But we have Jesus teaches us that we have choices to make. We can choose to make our decisions with an ethic of fear. And for a time, choices based on fear have a way of making us feel safe, but that is fleeting at best.

The other choice is to cross the road to help our neighbor. When we cross to the other side, we’ll get a glimpse of something Jesus talked an awful lot about. We’ll see what transformation looks like. You, see, when we cross the road, not only is the person we help changed, but we are changed.  Often more than the one we help.  We’ll finally understand who we are called to be. And best of all, we’ll finally encounter the Kingdom of God we’ve been longing for.

We don’t know if the expert in the law who asked the question, “And just how would you define my neighbor?” understood what Jesus was trying to teach.  We don’t know if it changed his behavior or not.  But we have a chance to be transformed.  The question is, will you set aside your fear and  go out on a limb for a neighbor?  Will you cross the road when you have the opportunity and be transformed?  Let us pray:

Dear Lord,  how often we hear of real-life good Samaritans: those who would give the shirts off their backs, those who do anything and everything to help people in need. Help us to be people who  seek justice and alleviate suffering in our world. We offer our hearts and hands to help, Lord. Help us to help our neighbors, setting aside our own needs, comforts, and fears knowing that their needs and comforts are as important as ours. Help us to share your love with all we know.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Get Out There!

 

Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Luke 10:1-11; 16-20
July 3, 2022

Equip us to know your will, O God, as we strive to labor daily
in the fields of your harvest. Amen

 

Get Out There!

 

Just what does it mean to take the good news to the world?

Jesus sends seventy of  his followers ahead of him to every town and place where he intended to go.  He is running out of time, and so he sends out disciples to multiply his work. Jesus had plans to go certain places and teach and heal but he doesn’t have time, so he sends his followers. It’s time for them to get out there and spread the good news about the hope of Jesus.

The number seventy is symbolic.  It implies all of humanity. Later today, take a look at Genesis 10 and the Table of Nations.[1] It lists all the tribes which spread across the land and led to all the nations.  This is the Old Testament reference to all the nations or all humanity.  Once again, we see Jesus is making it clear that salvation is available to everyone. No one is to be excluded.

The essence of the Christian message extends far beyond any particular time or space.  It is not limited by the person who shares it or the place in where it is heard.  The life-changing power of the gospel may be expressed in a wide variety of languages, an infinite number of places, and by many different types of people.  And yet always, at the center of the message is the hope offered to every person in the name of Jesus Christ.[2] The authority of Jesus’ name is still the powerful means by which every life is transformed. 

The seventy messengers may have long since died but God continues to call us.  Not just pastors and preachers, but you.  It is our job to prepare our congregations to be disciples – to get out there and be the hands and feet of Christ.  It is not our job to do all the work. Plus, that would be depriving our congregations of truly being disciples and being the hands and feet of Jesus.

Who the messenger is, is not the most important thing. Ordinary Christians like you and me who are living out our lives of faith are empowered to share the word of God and to encourage others to believe and follow.  We the church must be aware that the message, not the messenger, is the focus of our existence.[3]  It is always about God.  Never about the church.  Never about me or you.  We must always make it about God.  Not about ourselves or our church.  We are the hands and feet and mouth of Christ in the world. The message is the hope found in Jesus Christ.

Before you run out of the building scared to death that I’m going to make you stand at the corner of First and Main and evangelize, remember that one of my favorite quotes is that of Saint Francis, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.”  I don’t believe that preaching in people’s faces (except for yours of course!!) is the right way to share the message of the saving love of Jesus.  People are drawn to loving acts of kindness, when we want nothing in return.  People are  open to see the gospel when service is “our faith’,” whenever everything about us, all that we are is “our faith.”  They are open to that kind of invitation.  People are open to hear stories about how God has met our needs; why we believe, much more than hearing scripture or why they will go to hell if they don’t believe.

God prepares the harvest, not us.  God is responsible for the growth of our communities.  He sees abundance where we might see scarcity.  We are called to be open to this growth; to plan, to organize, and to work in a way that anticipates, rather than hampers the growth. It’s our role to pray for and invite others to join us in gathering.[4] 

In today’s world, we are going to find the growth outside these doors, doing things differently.  And then who knows, there may be some who will be drawn to us by the Holy Spirit and will join us on Sunday mornings and become part of our ministries in the community.  People are drawn to a church that is doing things; that is involved in the community; that is doing the work of Christ.

This has tremendous implications for the life and ministry of our community of faith.  Just as Jesus gives the seventy the power to resist negative forces and shake the dust from their feet in response, we also can try things and if they don’t work, we can just try something else.  We don’t have to be afraid of “making mistakes” or doing something that doesn’t work.  Remember, God is responsible for the harvest.  It is our role to get out there.  To answer His call to go and to do.

We tried to have a youth group.  In January, I had 7 youth at my home to brainstorm what a youth group would look like for them.  They were excited about it.  They wanted it twice a month on Sundays from 4-6pm. We planned the content.  I found 4 young adults to help lead it.  We started holding youth group in February and continued through the end of May.

Only 2 of the youth that attended the brainstorming and were so excited about a youth group, actually came to youth group.  We averaged 2-3 youth on a youth group Sunday.  That isn’t fun for the youth or for the leaders. I emailed parents, I texted parents, I texted students. We had flyers, we were on the reader board as you enter town.  Nothing seemed to work. 

But it’s not just us.  Youth groups are not working anymore.  Students are busy with sports and other activities.  Here in Fairfield, it’s livestock.  Parents aren’t committed to getting their youth to youth group.  Church is not a priority anymore. 

God will provide the harvest.  That is not our job.  We finally figured out that we were trying too hard to do a youth group.  It wasn’t working. We tried it and it didn’t work.  That’s O.K.   It isn’t the way we are supposed to reach and serve the youth of our community.  It doesn’t mean youth don’t matter to our church.  There is just a different way we are supposed to go out and serve.  And though youth group didn’t work, we did a wonderful mission project for the Union Gospel Mission in the process.

Katie Stark has some fun and exciting ideas of how other churches are reaching and serving youth that we can try.  Children and youth are a value of this church.  We will continue to serve them.  But in a different way.  We will try something different.  Something new.

In all this going out and doing, when it’s all said and done, what matters more than earthly and spiritual success of our ministries, is the eternal relationship with God we enjoy through Christ.  This relationship is ours through the grace in Christ.

Serving and doing – “good works” as some people call them do nothing to improve, increase, or assure our salvation.  We receive that simply through the grace of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death on the cross.  There is nothing more we need to do.  Not a thing. 

That is not why we go out and love and serve and do.  The things we do to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ and share the good news in our community is out of gratitude for all that Christ has done for us on the cross and to the share the joy and thankfulness we have in our faith. It truly is good news.  Thanks Be to God.  Amen.

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[1]Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1. Proper 8.  Luke 10:1-11;16-20.  Exegetical Perspective.  James W. Thompson.  P. 215. 
[2] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1. Proper 8.  Luke 10:1-11;16-20.  Pastoral Perspective.  Richard J. Shafer Jr.  P. 214.
[3] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1. Proper 8.  Luke 10:1-11;16-20.  Pastoral Perspective.  Richard J. Shafer Jr.  P. 216.
[4] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1. Proper 8.  Luke 10:1-11;16-20.  Homilectical Perspective.  David J. Lose.  P. 217.