When I came to you, brothers and
sisters,
I did not come proclaiming
the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.
For I decided to know nothing
among you except Jesus Christ,
and him crucified.
And I came to you in weakness and
in fear and in much trembling.
My speech and my proclamation
were not with plausible words of wisdom,
but with a demonstration of the
Spirit and of power,
so that your faith might rest not
on human wisdom but on the power of God.
***
I was talking to a friend
yesterday, and she was surprised that being a pastor of a church made dating
hard. I explained that I don’t tell blind dates what I do until I can see them
face to face, and when I do, I say, “I will tell you what I do, if you tell me
your first assumption, no hesitation,” “I am Presbyterian pastor, Go.” In
response, dates have blurted out, “Do you hate gay people?” “Can I still
go skiing on Sundays or will I have to go to church?” “Can you get married,
have kids? Can you make out? and then often they ask if there are congregants
around, and what is that like. Living as a pastor sometimes is a tricky dance.
At one point, I fell in love, and the person listed my occupation as the reason
he knew it wouldn't work. My friend, said, “Wow that’s a sacrifice,” and I have
thought about that. She said, if that person asked you, “them or the church,”
what would you pick? I said, “I think if they were to ask that, they wouldn’t
know me. While I often joke that I am the Black Sheep of the Presbyterian
Church, discarding rules, hanging out with atheists and evangelicals alike, and
a claiming theology with sort of mysticism, this is who I am. This is who I am
called to be. I explained my former husband was agnostic and despite the church
being historically nefarious, he still was able to say, that I was doing good
in the world and helping people. Perhaps he was more gracious about the outcome
of my ministry, but I appreciated that he saw the attempt. The attempt to live
a life that intentionally points to the mystery of God. It’s not a thing I can
pin down, like going to church every Sunday, but a thing from inside that leads
me. As I think of all this congregation does both inside and outside the church,
I wonder, do people know that what leads us is a life proclaiming the mystery
of God?
We are here today, but if you
were to look from the outside, if your neighbor saw you pulling out of the
driveway, would they think going to church was just something you did, or would
they know the why, that this is something to which you are pulled, something to
which you are called, that coming here is a deep place for you? I don’t go
around talking about church or being a pastor, and frankly, sometimes talking
about it outside of church, feels like talking about work, or being pushy in a
way I don’t want to be, but there are other times, when I am listening to a
friend without the judgment that can come from other Christians, or get asked
to do a Sunrise Service up at Anthony Lakes, or get held up at the Starbucks in
Safeway because a barista who sometimes makes my coffee is telling me in tears
her life story, because I asked what made it a tough day, and stood there to
listen, and told her I was the Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, and that I
was going to pray for her, in those times, I feel like this is why that I do
what I do, and the I point to the mystery of God.
Even as a Pastor, and perhaps especially as a pastor, I always feel a
little funny saying my role and where I serve, but I figure the push of
evangelism is worth the welcome that she might feel. That maybe if I mention
this place she could come and feel welcome. Its not an easy thing to say, even
the Apostle Paul acknowledges it,
“And I came to you in weakness
and in fear and in much trembling.
My speech and my proclamation
were not with plausible words of wisdom,
but with a demonstration of the
Spirit and of power,
so that your faith might rest not
on human wisdom but on the power of God.”
Its not an easy thing to say, but
I think it is important that people know the source of the why we do what we
do. If you come to Open Door on school mornings to feed and interact and create
a space of welcome for Middle School kids, do your neighbors know why you come?
Do they know what it is about that program that called you there? Did you hear
a story of hardship and were glad you could be someone to whom that kid could
talk? Did you play ping pong with a group of kids and know that in those
moments bullying wasn’t happening, did you serve up two helpings of eggs to a
kid who ate so ferociously that you know it was the first meal in awhile? What
brought you there? As you pull out of your drive, do your neighbors know? Do
those who pack backpacks of food for kids on weekends, know why each person is
in that room? Do you know why Lynn
leads the program, or why the Irvine Family brings the fruit? What is the
calling on their lives? Its not easy to explain, we really can't with plausible
words of wisdom, but have we tried like Paul, with fear and trembling, with a
demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that (the faith we share) might
rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
But it isn’t just about this
place. There is a project going on during Lent for churches to take pictures of
their Open Doors, not pictures facing inside, to the pews and the pulpit as
often seen, but to the street and the community outside. Sharing about God
doesn’t just happen here. Deb Trapp an occupational therapist, tells a story of
being in class and exploring cadavers, and her professor taking a moment and
explaining that these bodies often seen as gross, were in fact beautiful and
really point to the Biblical scriptures of the body. Scriptures where the body
has many members who must work together, scriptures which describe the body as
a temple. Years later she remembers it, what if this is what Pail is asking us
to do? Similarly, to hear Jason or Mark Ferns speak of their faith as connected
the work as geologists is inspiring and explains why they do what they do. Have
you asked Rick or Ginger why they do Habitat for Humanity work during
retirement? We know these people do what they do this is human wisdom, but to
hear them tell why speaks to the power of God. As teachers and ranchers, as
farmers and forest service, as lawyers, and mothers, and brothers, and
students, and retired people, do our neighbors know why we do what we do? Or do
they just see us pull out of our driveway, not knowing the calling of our
heart? Have we invited them to join us in the drive, to sit with us at 10:30 and see? Have we mentioned what leads us out those
doors, do we live so others know perhaps suggesting the right book to the right
person at the right time, is calling at the bookstore a kin to Jesus offering a
parable. Do we know that offering wisdom of healing and health has defined or
will define why we do what we do, much like Jesus to the sick?
In this time of Lent, in
preparation for Easter, we are asked to be intentional. Its not only about whom
we speak to but is about our own practice of being intentional, of claiming who
we are. Therefore, I am not asking you to give up chocolate as a Lenten
diet plan. I am not so sure about those types of intensions. I am asking you to
a deeper intentionality, to think about why you do what you do and to wonder
about who knows why, and who doesn’t. I love doing funerals, because I feel
like I get to find out people’s whys. I love doing visits, because I get to ask
those questions. But what if we didn’t have to wait until someone passed away
to hear their whys? What if we began to share with one another, with our
neighbors, with those whom we call colleagues, or clients, or customers? Do
your neighbors know why you come to this place, and have you ever invited them to
see? Do your neighbors know why you go to your work, and have you ever shared
with them why you do what you do? I think we can take the example form
Paul,
“When I came to you, brothers and
sisters,
I did not come proclaiming
the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.
For I decided to know nothing
among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
And I came to you in weakness and
in fear and in much trembling.
My speech and my proclamation
were not with plausible words of wisdom,
but with a demonstration of the
Spirit and of power,
so that your faith might rest not
on human wisdom but on the power of God.”
This Lent, what brings us in
these doors, why, and what leads us out? May it be a calling on our hearts we
not deny, lets us share what leads us is a life proclaiming the mystery of God.
