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216th General Assembly (2004)Richmond, Virginia
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Sermons |
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What do you see, what do you feel, what do you taste, what do you hear, what do you smell when you imagine the word abundance? |
Have you ever noticed that the word abundance includes the image of “dance?” Abundance - a word that waltzes across our tongues - and dances throughout the pages of scripture. Abundance - the fleshy word that lives and breathes and suffers and dies and rises up - overflowing in the person of Jesus Christ. Abundance - life in all its fullness - the theme of this 216th General Assembly - the word God has given us this week in our life as the Presbyterian Church, USA. What do you see, what do you feel, what do you taste, what do you hear, what do you smell when you imagine the word abundance? I see a cornucopia spilling forth with the extravagance of God’s
creation. Abundance - life in all its fullness. - the theme of this Assembly -
and God’s word to us. So much love speaking the world into existence that the only possible response is Good. Creation is very, very good. Abundance. So much manna falling from heaven that every human being from here to the tip of South Africa has enough . Abundance. So much sensuality dancing between the Rose of Sharon and her beloved young stag, that the banner of love that floats over their banqueting table lasts forever. Abundance. So much forgiveness flowing out of the wounds of our love besotted Lord that grace becomes the content of our character. Abundance. So much Pentecost Spirit careening out into the world, that hope and healing and wholeness complete God’s vision of shalom. Abundance - life in all its fullness- the theme of this assembly, and
God’s word to us. |
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The church I have seen and loved this past year is a church full to overflowing with the abundance of God’s gifts. |
The church I have seen and loved this past year is a church full to overflowing with the abundance of God’s gifts. 500 Presbyterian youth with a 75 voice choir - conservative, liberal and every nuance in between - - black and yellow, red and white, all precious in God’s sight - singing and hugging and dancing down the aisle to share in the joyful feast of the people of God. Abundance Thousands of believers in Dembidollo, Ethiopia arriving forty-five minutes early, squeezing through the doors and climbing through the windows in order to get a seat. Yes pushing and shoving so that they can have the privilege of worshiping God in 100-degree heat. Abundance. 200 children and fifty mothers, jammed into an upper room in Medellin Colombia. Desperately poor, no money or school or jobs or hope - except for the grace that God is sharing with them through the Iglesia de Presbyteriana de Colombia - through the outstretched arms and passionate prayers of Alice Winters, praising God and pleading with God for justice for God’s Colombian people. Abundance. 10 Presbyterians gathered for a 7 o’clock breakfast, jockeying for air time in order to describe how exciting it is to be a Presbyterian in this new and still forming, this missional, relational, emerging spiritual family called Denver Presbytery. Abundance. 5000 Presbyterians gathered in a Richmond Coliseum -black, white, and
every shade of beige and red and vanilla - Korean and Spanish and Farsi
and Italian and German tinged accents - evangelicals and progressives,
multi-culturalists and traditionalists, gays and straight - 5000 Presbyterians,
all baptized, all sinful, all hopeful, all precious - invited to a common
fountain and a common table. Abundance. |
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Let me remind us why this theme is at the heart of our work this week |
Abundance- life in all its fullness - the theme of this Assembly - and God’s word to us. Let me remind us why this theme is at the heart of our work this week. Life In All Its Fullness is the theme adopted by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, which will meet next month in Acra, Kenya. And many of those gathering for this global event will be Presbyterians from our own fellowship, Last November I had the privilege of traveling with Setri Nyomi, the General Secretary of the Alliance. For three hours one morning, we bounced along back roads in Cameroon to see and hear the disturbing story of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline - a much touted development project which, from the perspective of the local people, is devastating the economy and environment of rural Cameroon, even as it lines the pockets of wealthy politicians both in Africa and in the United States. I mentioned to Setri that I was disappointed that the translation of John 10:10 which the Alliance chose for its theme uses the world “fullness” instead of the word “abundance.” Jesus says, “I have come that you might have life in all its fullness” - rather than the more familiar, “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.” “Well,” Setri said, “that was an intentional decision. You see, here in Africa, the temptation is to buy into the western love of materialism - to live according to a theology of prosperity - to focus on human satisfaction and greed rather than humble gratitude for the utterly free, overflowing grace of God. In Africa, abundance is immediately understood as an abundance of things - not the abundance of spirit and grace that Jesus describes. And so that’s why we chose the translation, “life in all its fullness.” Ah, I thought, how sad that one of the most elegant words in the human
language has been coopted by our human hunger for stuff. Brothers and
sisters, this week I would like us to reclaim the beauty and the blessing
of abundance - the overflowing fullness, the gracious plenty which flows
out of the heart of our generous and benevolent Creator - an abundance
that is all about God, and not about us. Yes, an abundance that pulses
in the one we call Living Water, Bread of Heaven, Light of the World -
the one who bathes us and feeds us and illumines us with the extravagant,
abundant promises of God. |
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The text simply doesn’t solve this problem of how inclusive or exclusive we are called to be. Because it is up to God and not us. |
This passage this morning, from the 10th chapter of John, is both intoxicating and confusing - like most of the good news that God offers us week in and week out. What we have is a metaphorical stew, with Jesus being introduced to us as Voice, as Shepherd and as Gate. So, depending on whether you are an auditory learner, or a visual learner, or a feeler on the Myers-Briggs scale, there is a little something for all of us in this text. Jesus as Voice - the familiar and firm voice that guides us. All of these are images of invitation, of hospitality, of protection
- of God in Christ keeping us safe, of God in Christ keeping us steady,
of God in Christ keeping us together as the community he has gathered.
My reading of this text this time around was new for me in a significant
way. It is clear in this text that the decision as to who is invited,
who is protected, who is welcome - inside the gate - this decision is
up to the Shepherd - up to the Voice and the Gate and the Heart of our
Shepherd God. We, as the sheep, have no say as to who is in and who is
out. In fact, this shepherd named Jesus makes it clear that there are
sheep of other folds, who may well be invited in to mess up what we thought
we understood as our familiar and homogeneous flock. The text simply doesn’t
solve this problem of how inclusive or exclusive we are called to be.
Because it is up to God and not us. |
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And so we will leave it in God’s capable hands and heart to solve this problem. And in the meantime we can just get on with exploring the rich pastures of abundant life - all of us together – every one of us a sinner saved by the grace of God. |
I commend the interim report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity that is coming before this assembly. When I briefly met with the Task Force in February it became clear to me that God’s Spirit has shaped these 20 bothers and sisters into a collegial and intimate community - despite their deep theological differences. It became clear to me that not only do they love each other in Christ - but I think they actually like each other! What a model for the rest of us who like to stay as far away as possible from the “other” side - a distance which makes it much easier to lob verbal bombs of judgment and contempt. And how delightful to feel in their words the wonder of their discovery that our problems as a denomination have already been solved - if we are willing to give God the space to complete in us the good work that God has already begun. “For by grace you have been saved through faith,” the writer of Ephesians declares. “And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works - not conservative works or liberal works or moderate works - not the result of works at all, so that no one may boast. And so, we already have through Christ an enduring peace based on reconciliation achieved for us at great cost. We already have through Christ unity in the church -this community which is the very resurrected body of our Living Lord. And so, this unity is not optional. It is a necessity, because it is Christ who binds us together with all the members of the church -even with the ones we think don’t belong. And the most liberating news - for all of us, sinners every one - is that Christ’s grace is sufficient to make each one of us pure - pure according to Christ’s definitions, and not our own. Several years ago, the General Assembly, with the able help of the Office of Worship and Theology, managed to make a decision that a large number of commissioners agreed with. In good reformed fashion, they made a statement that most logic professors might reject. The Assembly said that two things are true. In a Statement entitled “Hope in Our Lord Jesus Christ” They said that we believe that Jesus Christ as Lord is the only means to salvation. But they also said that God is radically free to save whom God will save. And so, who is in and who is out, is not our decision. It must be left up to God. God is going to decide which of those other sheep are going to get into our flock. And so in the meantime, we need to spend our time following the Shepherd, and not trying to usurp his grace. I wonder what it would be like in our current debates about ordination, to acknowledge, on the one hand, that some readings of scripture seem to suggest that homosexuality is a sin. But, on the other hand God in Christ is the only one who has the voice, has the authority to judge what is sin. And so we will leave it in God’s capable hands and heart to solve this problem. And in the meantime we can just get on with exploring the rich pastures of abundant life - all of us together – every one of us a sinner saved by the grace of God. Abundance - life in all it fullness - the theme of this assembly - and
God’s word to us. |
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In other words, what might an abundant church look like? |
But, there is a tension in this text. It is the clear word that Jesus is the gate - and not the others who claim another truth - the thieves and bandits - or as one commentator suggests - the imposters. Who are these “other” - these thieves and imposters who tempt us to find God through other gates? Well, in my experience, they are all of us when we proclaim Christ in ways that do not embody Christ. Every preacher gathered here today knows the exegetical background for this text - the fact that in first century Palestine, the shepherd was indispensable. He was the one who lay down across the opening every night. He became the gate with his own flesh and blood - protecting the flock from harm and evil and hurt with the very courage and very love of his own life. And so, any of us who fail to love others with the very breath and substance of our lives - any of us who are not willing to lay out our well being for the sake of others - well, we are like those thieves and imposters that Jesus describes. When we are so hell bent on peace that we fail to do the hard work of conflict resolution and reconciliation, we rob the church of authentic community. When we are so hell bent on unity that we turn our back on covenant and accountability, we rob the church of integrity. And when we are so hell bent on purity that we legalistically destroy the sweetness of the fellowship, we rob the church of joy. It is in the full balance of the three - peace, unity, and purity - that we begin to experience the abundant life as Jesus offers it. As we move forward through this assembly and out into the world, how
might we imagine - yes how might we spiritually “see” the image
of God embodied in our beloved and beleaguered denomination? In other
words, what might an abundant church look like? I believe that an abundant
church looks like what we are already are becoming by the plentiful grace
of God. |
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An abundant church is... |
An abundant church is a church that joyfully, passionately celebrates worship as the heartbeat of its life together - creatively acting out the story of salvation through interwoven Word and Sacrament - multi-sensory, multi-cultural, speaking the language of mind, heart, body, and soul -worship so energizing that nobody looks at their watch, and everybody leaves renewed in their baptismal vocation of being God’s living presence in the world. An abundant church is a church that celebrates diversity - particularly theological diversity -a church that eagerly debates and dialogues together, freely acknowledging interpretive differences, hungry to chew on the Word and learn how to digest it together, knowing that the our individual truth can only become God’s truth when we reverently listen to the other, yes, a church that understands God at work in the tension and disagreements that are currently stirring up our life together. I’ll never forget the words of Adam Carlson last summer, one of the outgoing Co-Moderators of the Presbyterian Youth Connection. In explaining why he wants to be a Presbyterian, he said it is because we know how to fight - not fight with judgments of mass destruction, but with the spiritual armor of God - with the intellectual gifts of discernment, debate, intelligence and truth that gives us the freedom to explore out loud the nuances of God’s mystery. An abundant church is a church that is passionate about mission - a church
that understands that faith is not just about feeling good, but also about
doing good - that being fascinated by Jesus without following Jesus turns
him into a celebrity instead of Lord of our lives. Mission simply means
to be sent out - each one of us sent out in Jesus’ name - each one
of us the Word become Flesh full of grace ad truth - each one of us transparently
living the Christian life as the yeast, the salt and the light of God
in the world - each one of us committed to justice rolling down like water
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. To proclaim Jesus as Lord
is to commit ourselves body and soul to bringing Good News to the poor,
proclaiming release to the captives, giving sight to the blind, and letting
the oppressed go free. Anything less fails to witness to the fullness
of life lived to the glory of God. |
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And most of all an abundant church is a church enlivened with hope. |
And most of all an abundant church is a church enlivened with hope. The future of the church is not up to us - thank God! The future of the church is the living promise of a living Lord enlivened by a Living Spirit. And it is the extravagant fullness of that divine promise that fills us, humble humanity, with overflowing possibility. The most faith changing moment of my moderatorial year took place in Baranquilla, Colombia. For three days our small contingent saw, heard, and felt the danger, the fear, the suffering, the poverty - the devastation of God’s people in that beautiful but war-torn country. 34 Christian pastors killed because they had the courage to speak and pray for peace. Our own global partners receiving death threats weekly because they dare to proclaim God’s vision of justice. Hundreds of adults and children poor and homeless in dry, dusty, barren refugee camps- part of the 4.5 million political refuges displaced by economic and political violence - God’s poorest of the poor being served by the compassion and courage of Presbyterians. It was a depressing and devastating and debilitating pilgrimage -less than 1000 miles from where we are now sitting. But then, after the hard news, came the Good News. For two and a half hours, 500 of us gathered to sing with joy, to pray with passion, to feast with hope. And then we were invited to a party. And my friends, we partied! We ate and drank and laughed and danced, far into the night. And I was stunned. “How,” I asked. “After all the sadness and death and fear that we have experienced these last few days, how can you celebrate?” And Milton’s answer was immediate and clear. “Because,”
he said, “in a land where desperation grows ever deeper, we are a
people of Hope. Because in a culture of death, we are a people of Life.
Because, in a country where crucifixion still happens every day, we defiantly
proclaim that we are a people of Resurrection.” |
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Friends, God does not sprinkle us with grace - God drenches us with grace. |
In his book called God Has A Dream, Archbishop Desmond Tutu describes what fully realized abundant life in Christ will look like. Reflecting on 25 years of transformation in South Africa - a miracle wrought by God despite the sinfulness of hatred and division -Tutu writes:
(standing at the font) My friends, it is here at this font, that each one of is born into the abundant life. It is here through God’s utterly dependable and unconditional grace that we become loved forever. And it soon it will be at God’s groaning table of plenty that we will be fed with Christ’s body and blood. Friends, God does not sprinkle us with grace - God drenches us with grace. God’s table is not a snack to tide us over. It is a feast that can feed us for the rest of our lives. And so, let us come, not because we are worthy. But because our generous God loves us and invites us and wants to fill us to overflowing. Abundance - life in all its fullness - the theme of this assembly, and God’s Word to us today. May it be so - for us and for God’s world. Amen |
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ABUNDANT
ABUNDANCE