A Rich History

 Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Acts 2:1-21
June 5, 2022

A Rich History

 

I love this passage in Acts.  The awesome power of God is revealed seven weeks after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  The eleven remaining disciples are gathered together.  They had lived intimately with Jesus for three years.  They finally understood that he had a supernatural connection with the God of their ancestors Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, as well as Isaac and Rebecca.  They believed that he was Emmanuel – the living Christ, God with us. 

 

They gathered early that morning to worship and pray and support one another.  They were a religious minority and lived a faith that few in Galilee did.  There were other believers with them.  Men and women.  About 120 in all. 

 

But it was no ordinary morning of worship and prayer.  As they worshiped, there was a noise so loud that it could not be ignored.  They were so startled that their sensory systems were flooded with adrenaline and their whole minds and whole bodies intensely processed the sound, the energy, and the feeling of the coming of the Holy Spirit.  She had come just as Jesus had promised, and it was an all-body experience.[1] All the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.  None was excluded. 

 

Luke wrote Acts and he tells us that a “sound like the rush of a violent wind filled the entire house where they were sitting.”  And then,  and then as if that were not enough, “divided tongue, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.”  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

 

In Jerusalem that day were Jews who came from distance places to celebrate Shavuot, a joyful festival in which the first fruits of the harvest were given to God.  More importantly, Shavuot is the celebration of the giving of the Torah, in particular the Ten Commandments from Sinai. I don’t think it was a coincidence that God chose to send His Spirit that day. 

 

Those who watched could not explain rationally what was taking place.  It was absurd to hear eleven people from Galilee speaking the local languages of Asia Minor, Egypt, Libya, Rome, and other places.  Visitors to Jerusalem who heard their languages spoken were hearing about the mighty miracles of the God of Jesus Christ.[2]

 

This passage tells the story of what we consider the birth of the church. Weary and mournful, the disciples gathered early in the morning for worship. A religious minority at the time, they were easily persecuted for their strange beliefs. They gathered for support, comfort and accountability. They would remain faithful, they promised each other during worship. They would not let the good news go unproclaimed.[3] And unproclaimed it wasn’t!

 

Pentecost Sunday is our chance to pause and celebrate the faithful who still gather, week after week, month after month, in this church here in Fairfield to meet the Spirit of Christ. Ronald Byars, in his book The Future of Protestant Worship: Beyond the Worship Wars, tells a story about a couple who have a son with developmental disabilities. “The family is active in the church,” Byars writes. “They seldom miss worship. One winter Sunday morning they awakened late, and breakfast took longer than usual, and everything seemed a little off-balance. The parents decided, for this one Sunday, to stay home from church. They told their son, who seemed to accept their decision. But after pondering this news, he asked his father, ‘Won’t Jesus miss us?’”[4]

 

Jesus meets us when we gather in Christian community. We experience the risen Christ through our gatherings and through our spiritual rituals – baptisms, communion, communal prayer, singing of hymns – these hold the bulk of a tradition passed on from generation to generation. As the pandemic forced us into isolation, we have recognized now, more than ever, how good it is to gather as Christian community.

 

People have been gathering in this space right here for a long time.  The Holy Spirit has been present here for many, many years as well as present in the people who have gathered – including all of you.  I visited with Eleanor Thromahlen at Touchmark on Tuesday.  She said she can’t wait for her 100^th birthday in January!  Eleanor is sharper than I am.  We had a wonderful visit.  Her daughter Diane was there. and she brought me Eleanor’s wedding picture.  There was Eleanor, absolutely beautiful in her flowing wedding gown and veil, her handsome husband in his army uniform next to her. There were beautiful flowers all around them and Eleanor was holding a large flowing bouquet.  They looked so happy.  They were standing in front of the altar of this church. Right there. That was July 31, 1944. 

 The Holy Spirit has been in this church for many, many years.  Through years of struggle and years of growth.  Many children and youth, and I’m sure adults have met Jesus here and grown up in the faith.  Families have worshiped together and there were decades when the sanctuary was filled, and voices resounded off the walls when hymns were sung.  There have been many baptisms, weddings, and funerals here.  And always, God was present.  This church has a rich history.

 The Holy Spirit continues to be present even though our sanctuary is not packed anymore.  Even though our voices are not quite as loud when we sing, the Spirit is here when we worship.  I feel the Spirit whenever I come into the building – when I’m here alone and when I am with all of  you on Sunday’s.  Though the congregation is smaller, God’s Spirit has never left.  She is with us.  We don’t hear the roaring winds or see the tongues of fire like those first disciples did, but the Spirit is here.  The Spirit is present in each of you, because after all, you are the church.  Not this building.  You.  You are the church.

Today, we are going to identify the values of our church.  Who are we?  When we think about Fairfield Community Church, what comes to mind?  What is important to us?  It will be a Holy Spirit exercise for us as individuals, and for us as a church.  It will help us move forward.  We will always have a faithful few who worship here on Sunday mornings.  Gathering together and worshiping God is so important. We will lean on the traditions of our faith. But much of what we do as a church may be outside these walls.  It may look different.  The Spirit will lead us. Just like Jesus sent the disciples, the Spirit may send us.   It will depend on the values you identify.  This is the beginning of our Spirit-led journey.

 

In today’s text, after the disciples had gathered, and after they had been moved by the Holy Spirit at work among them, Peter stood up to preach. For his text he chose the prophet Joel:

 

“Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit … and everyone who calls on the

name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel 2:28-32).

 

I imagine Peter standing there, preaching these words, sharing this vision of people of all classes and positions brought together by the Spirit, with the disciples and the gathered Parthians, Medes, Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia. I imagine Peter full of energy, passion and adrenalin. I imagine Peter reminding his people of God’s promise to meet us whenever we gather.

 

I know how he felt. Maybe you do, too. This is why we keep going back to church.  This is why we keep gathering as a community. Our rich history will always be behind us, we have a new beginning in front of us.   Let us pray:

 

A Prayer for Pentecost (2006)
From the Reformed Church in America: http://www.rca.org/worship/material/lent/litanies.html

Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life:
At the beginning of time you moved over the face of the waters;
you breathe into every living being, the breath of life.
Come, Creator Spirit, and renew the whole creation.

Holy Spirit, voice of the prophets:
You enflame men and women with a passion for your truth,
and through them call your people to the ways of justice and compassion.
Come, Spirit of Righteousness, and burn in our hearts.

Holy Spirit, Spirit of Jesus:

By your power Jesus came to bring good news to the poor
and release to those held captive.
Come, Liberating Spirit, and free us from the powers of sin and death.

Holy Spirit, Advocate, Teacher:
You speak to us of our Lord,
and show us the depth of his love.
Come, Spirit of Truth, abide in us and lead us in the way of Jesus Christ.

Holy Spirit, wind and flame:
You filled disciples with joy and courage,
empowering them to preach your word and to share your good news.
Come, Spirit of Power, make us bold witnesses of your redeeming love.

Holy Spirit, Spirit of Peace:
You break down barriers of language, race, and culture,
and heal the divisions that separate us.
Come, Reconciling Spirit, and unite us all in the love of Christ.

Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life:
At the close of the age
all creation will be renewed to sing your praises.
Come, Creator Spirit, and make us new creations in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

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[1] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Vol. 3.Pentecost and Season After.  Acts 2:1-21.  Theological Perspective.  Linda E. Thomas.  P. 18. 
[2] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Vol. 3.Pentecost and Season After.  Acts 2:1-21.  Theological Perspective.  Linda E. Thomas.  P. 18 and Exegetical Perspective.  Margaret P. Aymer.  15 & 17. 
[3] Presbyterian Outlook.  Terry McDowell Ott.
[4] Presbyterian Outlook.  Terry McDowell Ott.

Lament

Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Psalm 13 and John 11:11-37
May 29, 2022

O God, as we fully experience the good news of Easter and look toward the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, open our hearts and minds to your Word dwelling within us, calling us to unity in Christ.

 

Lament

 

I threw away my sermon this week.  I could not just get up and preach about Paul and Silas this morning after the soul deadening, horrifying school shooting in Texas and the 2 previous massacres just 10 days prior.  It would not be faithful to what’s happening in our country and in our faith.  That’s why we had different Scripture passages than planned.  I have to speak to the horror around us.

On Saturday, May 14^th, an 18-year-old white man drove 200 miles to Tops Friendly Market Grocery Store, in a predominately Black neighborhood and killed 10 people and injured 3 more.  He had driven down in early March as well as the day before the massacre to look over the surroundings. He went inside the grocery store and looked around on Friday, the 13^th.  Saturday, May 14^th, he wore combat gear and carried assault weapons with no other agenda than to kill.  The beloved people he killed deserve to be named.  They were people with lives that mattered. 

Aaron Salter, 55 years old.  Mr. Salter was the security guard at Tops Friendly Market Grocery Store.  Mr. Salter fired at the attacker, striking him once, but the bullet was caught in his body armor.  Ruth Whifield, 86 years old.  Ruth had just visited her husband in a nursing home near the store and was there to pick up a few items, but she never made it out of the supermarket.  Katherine Massey, or Kat as she liked to be called.  72 years old.  Kat was a member of the community group called We are Women Warriors who were tackling youth violence.  She wrote for the local paper about escalating gun violence in Buffalo and many other major U.S. cities. Pearly Young, 77 ran a weekly food pantry every Saturday for the past 25 years.  Heyward Patterson worked as a driver who gave rides to residents to and from the grocery store and would help with their groceries. The 67-year-old regularly attended The State Tabernacle Church of God and would stand at the doorway to welcome people into the worship service on Sundays.  Celestine Chaney was at the grocery store to get shrimp and strawberry shortcake. The 65-year-old was a grandmother to six and had a great-grandchild. Celestine was also a cancer survivor.  Roberta Drury, 32, was at the supermarket to get food for dinner. Roberta  lived in the Syracuse area but was in Buffalo to be with her brother that day.   She often shopped for her adoptive brother, Christopher Moyer, and his family, who lived near the grocery store. Roberta was recovering from leukemia. Margus Morrison, 52, was the father of three children.  Andre Mackneil, 53 years-old went to the store to pick up a birthday cake for his 3-year-old son’s birthday but never made it home with the cake.  Andre was engaged to be married.  Geraldine Talley was 62 years old and lived in Buffalo.  

You see, it matters when you name the people who died. When you make them real.  For us it can feel like this happened on the East Coast so it doesn’t impact us.  This was a racially motivated hate crime and we live in a predominately white community.  We can say that issues of racial hate don’t have a bearing on us.  We don’t need to be concerned.  But these were all beloved children of God, made in His image.  As Christians, we must care. Racially motivating killings must matter to us all.  This was the 126^th racially motivated killing this year.  126 in 5 months.  Enough.  Enough killings.

The very next day, Sunday, May 15^th, while we were celebrating our pre-K graduates and our High School graduates in our church, another church in Laguna Beach, CA – Geneva Presbyterian Church, a Taiwanese congregation, was having a luncheon to honor a previous pastor who was coming back to serve them.  A 60-year-old man of Asian descent entered the building and began shooting.  Investigators say the mass shooting was a hate-filled attack.  The gunman chained the exits shut and sealed locks with super glue before unleashing a spree of gunfire.  They found notes showing the suspect’s hatred of Taiwanese people in the car he drove 275 miles to get to the church.  Dr. John Cheng was killed. Dr. Cheng prevented additional deaths, by throwing himself in front of the gunman and giving other members of the congregation an opportunity to get his weapons away from him and hogtie him until law enforcement arrived.  Five other people were injured in the process. This is not the first mass shooting in a church.  The first racially motivated shooting in a church.  I found myself crying out to God,  Enough.  Enough killings.

10 days later.  Tuesday, May 24^th.    An 18-year-old, after shooting his grandmother, entered an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and murdered 19 children and 2 teachers before law enforcement killed him.  Nineteen children and 2 teachers.  Seventeen other children were wounded.  Enough, God!  Enough killings. 

These children and teachers have names.  I hope I pronounce their names correctly.  Jaliah, age 10. Jayce, age 10. Jackie, 9 years-old.  Maite, age 10. Annabelle, age 10. Uziyah, 8 years-old.  Amerie, 10 years-old.  Xavier, age 10.  Alithia, 10 years old.  Eliahana, 10 years old.  Miranda, age 11. Rojello, 10 years old.  Tess, age 10. Ellie, age 9. Jose, age 10.  Layla, age 10. Makenna, age 10. Nevaeh, age 10. Alexandria, Age 10. Irma Garcia, age 48, 4^th grade teacher.  Eva Mireles, age 44, 4^th grade teacher.  Some of the families waited more than 12 hours to learn that their child had died. 

 I don’t know how you are feeling.  I am heartbroken. My heart hurts. We keep doing this.  It doesn’t matter if the victims are Black, or Asian, or Latino, or White.  They are beloved children of God.  They are people whose lives were cut short because of violence.  Real people, real children who have people who love them.  People who will never be able to hug them again, talk with them again.  These children will never laugh and play, get in trouble, grow up and have families of their own.  I keep thinking about the parents.  I am heartbroken.  But I am also angry.  I’m really angry.  How long will we allow our children to die?  Allow our brothers and sisters to die?

I pray, God, where are you!  Where are you, God!

¹ How long, O Lord? Will you forget us forever?
    How long will you hide your face from us?
² How long must we bear pain^[a] in our souls
    and have sorrow in our hearts all day long?
How long shall our enemies be exalted over us?

In our passage from John, Jesus wept.  Lazarus, one of Jesus’ closest friends has died.  Jesus knew he had died before he went to him.  He had been dead 4 days.  When Jesus arrived, Mary and Martha, Lazarus’s sisters were mourning, they were crying.  And Jesus wept.  He would raise Lazarus from the dead, but for now he wept.  He wept because his friends were hurting.  Perhaps he wept because death was a fact of life.  But Jesus wept.

 This gives me great comfort.  I have no doubt that God is weeping with us now.  I think God has been weeping for some time. I think God’s heart is broken for the tremendous loss of lives.  The lives lost in Buffalo, for the loss of Dr. Cheng in Laguna Beach, and maybe, most especially, for the nineteen children and two teachers that died on Tuesday.  I believe that God’s heart is broken for the parents who will never hug their children again or watch them laugh and play or grow up.

In our story in John, Jesus weeps.  We must sit in the sorrow long enough to really feel the sorrow, but then we must take action.  Jesus wept and then he raised Lazarus from the dead.  As followers of Christ, we are called to action.  We are called to pray and then to do.  We must sit with our grief long enough to feel the depth of the grief and to lament our grief and our rage to the point that we understand that something is very wrong and it compels us to stand up in the morning and take the steps needed to help change and heal our world.[1]

Whatever that might look like for you.  We must change our culture of hate and violence to one of tolerance and understanding.  We must improve mental health resources in our country.  This pandemic of violent people with guns must come to an end.  We must improve accountability when we see things on social media or hear things that sound alarming or concerning.  We must talk with our congress representatives about issues that concern us.  We must be responsible citizens, not only responsible for our perceived rights but responsible for one another.  We must ask, what does my faith ask of me in a time such as this?

This is a time of deep despair.  But we must remember that we do not despair without hope.  We worship the God of the resurrection.  We know these children, these teachers these 10 beloved lives in Buffalo, and Dr. Cheng live eternal.  God is with them just as he is with us.  As Christians, we know the worst thing, is not the last thing.  God has the last word.

God will redeem even these horrible evils, but we must remember that we are Christ’s hands and feet in the world. We need to keep praying but we need to act. We must be part in the solution.  The great Oswald Chambers said, “Prayer changes me, and then I change things.”  Even living here, in Fairfield, Washington, we can and must be part of the solution.  We already know, it can happen even here.  Amen.

 

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[1] Presbyterian Mission

Loving

 

Rev. Debbie Cato
John 13:31-35
Fairfield Community Church
May 15, 2022, 5^th Sunday of Easter (Children & Youth Sunday)

Loving God, guide us into your word, that we might hear the message you intend for us today. Amen.

Loving

 

We are back in time before Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.  Back to Jesus’ trying to explain what is about to happen to his disciples.  He knows they don’t understand.  This is Jesus’ last opportunity to say what he wants to say.  To tell them what he really wants them to know; what he wants them to remember. 

“Little children,” he says to these grown men.  Listen to me.  This is important Jesus gets right to the point.  Rather than use his usual way of speaking in parables, Jesus gives them a new commandment:  “Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. ³⁵ This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.”  That’s it.  That’s what he wants them to know.  That’s what he wants them to remember.  That is what is important. To love one another.

 It's simple enough for our preschoolers to memorize and appreciate, and it’s profound enough that the most mature believers are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they comprehend it and put it into practice.[1]  If we are honest with ourselves, we really do not do a very good job of loving one another.

Jesus does not talk about the important of the Bible or a carefully written creed.  The New Testament was not even be written until two generations after Jesus’ death, and the Creeds were not hammered out by combative theologians until the next 350 years.  The Bible and the creeds would become terribly important to us human beings over the years, while the one thing most important to Jesus would get lost.[2]  Loving one another.

What Jesus wanted us to know was that although people would fight wars over who held the correct beliefs, this was not Jesus’ primary concern.  Jesus’ way was the way of little children, not the way of learned theologians and intelligent preachers.

“Little children,” he said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”  The commandment is not about what you believe, it is about how you live.

In her autobiographical work, The Spiral Staircase, Karen Armstrong notes that in  most religious traditions, faith is not about belief, but about practice.   “Religion,” Armstrong writes, “is not about having to believe or accept certain difficult propositions; instead, religion is “about doing things that change  you.”[3]

So, what does it mean to love?  I decided to go to the experts.  The children.  On Thursday when I met with the pre-k and preschoolers, I asked them, “what is love?”  Mrs. Brannon and Rachelle helped me gather the answers. These are the wise answers your children gave.

Melissa, Ava, Jim, and Kyllie all said hugs and kisses.  Some of the children specified giving hugs when you leave and at night.  Clara said, love is giving Mom a kiss when you go night-night and telling her that you love her. It was obvious that for the preschoolers and pre-k children, the people that are raising them – parents, grandparents, and others are the ones modeling love to them.   They know love by the signs they receive – the hugs and the kisses tell them that they are loved and the hugs and the kisses they give are telling others that they love them. 

You could tell it was just Mother’s Day because Maverick said love is giving Mommy a card and Camdyn said love is buying Mom a new pink dress.  Ryatt told me love was giving Mommy a red flower. 

 They are also learning about love through their pets.  They are always asking for prayers for their pets.  When asked what love is, Hunter said, “I love my cat.”

Camdyn said that love is doing things to make Mom happy.  Sounds like he has a servant’s heart.  Both Rylie and Rory said that love is being nice. Rory also said love is using nice words.  Sounds a lot like Jesus’ call to love your neighbor as yourself.    Rhett, said that love is good.  Love is good.  I couldn’t say it better myself. 

Casen was the last one to answer in my group.  He seemed a bit pensive, but when I asked him a second time, he looked at me and he said, well, God made us to love people. 

I think Jesus would be happy with these answers.  He said, “Let the little children come to me.”  I think we over complicate things.  Jesus told us to love one another.  These children understand that love is a verb.  Love is about doing.  It is about acts of kindness.  We need to show our love.

Hugging and kissing strangers would be inappropriate, but a kind word is not.  Encouragement to someone is not.  The person helping you check out at the grocery store, the stranger on the street, people in the post office you see on a regular basis but you don’t actually know.

Sending a note to someone that is struggling or someone who is alone or someone who is sick.  It’s wonderful to get mail that is not junk or a bill.  Doing an act of kindness with no expectation for something in return.  Using nice words.

These are all things we can do.  These children can be our example.  As Casen said, God made us to  love people.  Jesus told us to love one another.  I think we could change the world if we lived and did what he commanded.  If nothing else, it would certainly change us.  Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] Feasting on the Word:  Year C, Volume 2.  Lent through Eastertide.  Fifth Sunday of Easter.  John 13:31-35.  Pastoral Perspective. Gary D. Jones.  P. 470.
[2] Feasting on the Word:  Year C, Volume 2.  Lent through Eastertide.  Fifth Sunday of Easter.  John 13:31-35.  Pastoral Perspective. Gary D. Jones.  P. 470.
[3] Feasting on the Word:  Year C, Volume 2.  Lent through Eastertide.  Fifth Sunday of Easter.  John 13:31-35.  Pastoral Perspective. Gary D. Jones.  P. 470.

 

You Really Must Experience It

Rev. Debbie Cato
Psalm 23 and John 10:22-30
Fairfield Community Church
May 8, 2022, 4^th Sunday of Easter 

God our Helper,  guide us into and through your word, that we will be shaped by your Spirit’s message to us today.  Transform us for service in your world.  Amen.

 

 

You Really Must Experience It.

 

Today, we begin with Jesus’ walking in the portico of Solomon, an old and revered part of the Temple.  The people gathered around him have come to celebrate the Feast of Dedication (better known to us as Hanukkah), a festival honoring the rededication of the Temple after its defilement by the Syrian Greeks in 154 BCE.

Jesus Religious opponents have come with a question.  Maybe they’ve heard one of Jesus’s puzzling parables or witnessed one of his miracles.  Or maybe, they just  want to trap him into saying something they consider blasphemous.  Whatever the motive, the question they pose is a good one:   “How long will you keep us in suspense?  If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

It feels odd to ask for clarity so soon after Easter.  Didn’t we just celebrate the plainest, clearest, most indisputable proof of Jesus’s Messiah-ship possible?  How can we still be in suspense after the Resurrection?

On the other hand, the question, and it’s timing in our lectionary, feels spot-on.  If we are honest enough to admit it, it tells us the truth about how faith works.  Most of the time, faith is not a clean slope from unbelief to belief.  It’s more like a roller coaster or a circle from knowing unknowing, from unbelief to belief to unsure.  From “Christ is Risen,” “If you are the Messiah to tell us plainly.”

I used to think this was a weakness, this wavering faith. But, I don’t anymore.  I realize that it’s just what we human beings do.  It’s real life.  So, if you find yourself asking Jesus to “speak plainly” into the circumstances of your life on this fourth Sunday of Easter, then you’re not alone.  Welcome to the way of authentic faith.  This is how it works.

The trouble with talking plainly about the things of God is that the things of God are anything but plain.  Gary Jones, Rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, VA says, “When a person begins speaking with unequivocal certainty about God, this is a sure sign that the person is no longer speaking about God.  We can speak with unequivocal certainty about things our minds can grasp, but God is not one of those things.  God grasps us.  We do not grasp God.”[1]

It's hard to grasp God.  I think that’s why our faith can go from strong and firm to wavering and hardly existing.  Faith can be hard during a pandemic that seems to never end.  A pandemic that isolates us for months on end, takes people we love and cherish, and triggers strong emotions and opinions.  It’s hard during political times that are more polarizing than any time I remember during my life.  It’s hard when we watch innocent children and families die.  When we watch them lose their homes, their country, and their culture because a dictator decides to wage war.  Add personal health problems, family relationship difficulties, or other challenges you are facing, and we ask why?  Why God?  Where are you, we ask?  How do we grasp God during these times?  How do we hold onto our faith during such times?   Tell us plainly.

In this passage from John’s Gospel, Jesus tells his demanding inquirers that he has already plainly told them what they need to know.  The trouble is, Jesus told them through his ministry – the things he did, the way he lived.  Jesus’ role and identity cannot be reduced to a title.  Rather, his role and identity must be experienced. 

This becomes clear in the analogy of the sheep and the shepherd.  The sheep know and trust the shepherd, not because they have gone through any sort of rational, intellectual discernment, but because they have experienced the shepherd and the  way he cares for them. 

 In the same way, a child knows and trusts his or her mother, not because of reason, but because of experience.  Because of the bond and the love they share.  Because of the way the mother repeatedly meets the needs of the child. It is not an accident that Jesus says, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”[2]

 You really must experience Jesus to know him.  It’s how we get through crummy times.  Because the last time we didn’t know if we would make it, we did.  Because people show up in our lives at just the right time to remind us, we are not alone.  Because the sun comes out, flowers bloom, birds sing.  A stranger smiles and says hello.  An old friend calls out of the blue at just the right time.  All reminders that God is with us, and He loves us beyond our understanding.  All reminders of who Jesus is.  Not words, but experiences. 

When I had breast cancer, I experienced the presence of Christ in so many ways.  I felt His presence in Tracy’s gentle touch as she bathed me after my surgery.  I saw His compassionate, caring eyes in Jessica when she changed my dressing on my radiation burns.  I heard His voice in the daily text messages I got from my sister on the East Coast telling me I was her hero, or I was a warrior and telling me she loved me.  I felt his love in the many, many cards I got from friends all around the country.  It wasn’t because I went to seminary and studied theology but because I experienced His presence through other people that I knew He was with me every step of the way.

When people ask me why I believe, or they ask me about Jesus, I tell them about experiences like this – and so many others, not about the doctrines and theology I learned in seminary. It’s the experiences that make me believe and keep me believing.  And when my faith wavers, and it does, and it’s harder to feel God’s presence, I reach for these experiences to remind me of God’s faithfulness in the past and I tell myself that he will be faithful again. 

We can get caught up fighting about who believes the right things about God and who does things the right way. It keeps us tangled up with words about God and traditions about God instead of walking in the ways of God.  I’m not saying it’s not important to understand scripture, because it is.  But I do think it’s important to return to an authentic experience of God because that is what it’s all about.  Following Jesus is about living and being the way Jesus was.

The early  Church grew exponentially, not because they were convinced of creeds and liturgy – they didn’t exist!  The church grew because they experienced the living Lord and a new way of life.  In fact, the early Church was not called the Church, it was called the Way.  The Way of Jesus.  The Way Jesus lived.  The Way Jesus taught.  The Way Jesus loved.  The Way of Jesus ministry.  The Way.  We belong to the Way.  We are to model Jesus.  We are to experience Jesus through one another and allow others to experience Jesus through us. 

 The most eloquent way to talk about your faith, the best way to talk plainly about Jesus, is to talk about your faith journey.  The ways you have experienced Christ in your life.  That’s what draws people in.  It’s the stories.  It’s the experiences.  It’s when we say, I believe because I have experienced the living Lord in my life.  I know Jesus is the Messiah.  He lives in me.  Amen.

 

 

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[1] Feasting on the Word.  Year c, Vol. 2.  Lent Through Eastertide.  Fourth Sunday of Easter.  John 10:22-30.  Pastoral Perspective.  Gary D. Jones.  P. 444.
[2] Feasting on the Word.  Year c, Vol. 2.  Lent Through Eastertide.  Fourth Sunday of Easter.  John 10:22-30.  Pastoral Perspective.  Gary D. Jones.  P. 446.