Faith Trumps Fear!

This is a sermon I preached on Sunday, October 5th, 2008, World Communion Sunday....


Faith Trumps Fear!
Acts 8:26-40 (the story of Phillip meeting the Ethiopian Eunuch on the Gaza Road).


Fear fractures faith!

The tyranny of fear has been ruling our country certainly in the past two weeks as the world watches Wall Street collapse in historic proportion. Never would any of us have predicted that many of the staple names in the world of global economics no longer exist, or exist in a whole new era of tighter regulation and control.

Needless to say, our nation and perhaps even the world has tottered in fear ever since 9/11. Our lives changed forever on that day – or so many fear mongers would have us believe. Simply because, fear fractures faith, we need faith and hope to sustain us!

Several commentators I have read recently truly believe that the world, not just America, will be jettisoned back through a recession, at least into another Depression, this time dragging the rest of the world with us, and some say, we’ll go even as far as a new era Stone Age!

Clearly, I’m no financial forecaster, nor do I believe these Doomcasters! There are far better qualified people from whom to seek advice in times such as these – but I, for one, have not pulled my pension portfolio out of the various mutual funds within which they are invested!

One thing I can proclaim – and loud enough for the fear prognosticators to hear –

Faith Trumps Fear!

Fear may go a long way to fracture faith, but in the end, faith trumps fear! That needs to be our message and our hope for times such as these! We’ll be OK in the end! Our God is far greater than Lehman Brothers, far greater than Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, even far greater than a 700 Billion dollar rescue plan!

In times when such terror freezes our sense of faith in the world around us, these are times when we, as communities of faith, need to be reminded that our God not just comforts us in times of trouble, our God literally comes to us in times of great need!

In times such as these and in the cold winter forecasted ahead (assuming you listen to the Farmer’s Almanac), we need to come together even more powerfully as a congregation of God’s people, of God’s Kingdom people to proclaim in our unity, a love that is more powerful than our greatest enemies, more stable and stronger than our financial markets, and more capable than our failing health systems to speak to one another and share what God has done for us – even in times such as these!

In a time when others in the newfound church were being persecuted and even killed for their faith, Phillip, most likely a newly ordained Deacon, finds himself – through the agency of the Holy Spirit, transported from one place of marginalized people (Samaria) to reaching out to an Ethiopian Eunuch, a man who is, we can surmise, almost completely opposite from himself and would have been seen as very ‘marginal’ in the eyes of the parent faith – Judaism. God’s message is clear in this text! God’s gospel, God’s Way was to be a way of radical inclusion! When the people of Philip’s time would have drawn a line at welcoming this stranger from a strange land into their midst, indeed, into their church, Philip is compelled and called by the Holy Spirit to baptize this seeker of faith from the margins!

Today is World Communion Sunday. How perfect a Sunday to share in light of all that has been happening around the world these past few weeks! We need to come together to share God’s good news with each other and to share that most precious of gifts our Lord gave to us – Holy Communion. It is the antidote to slogans of fear and terror that rock the night and grip us by day.

We are God’s communion of sojourners in life, called together in a radical inclusion as a safe harbor from all that would terrorize us ‘out there’!

Our faith trumps the fear of empires collapsing, of world markets rearranging, of high costs of heating our homes and driving our cars. When times get tough, our response needs to be bonding ourselves together in a communion of love, care and concern for one another, so that those still in the grip of fear may find a triumphant love which casts our fear perfectly!

Today, our God meets us here in this meal we will share. It is a powerful message for our day. Our God is greater than the daily news! Cling to this hope; this faith, and come home to this place, a place of radical welcome and inclusion – it is God’s Kingdom on earth!

Welcome to the table!

Amen.






Rev. John C. Weatherhogg
Grace Congregational United Church of Christ
Rutland, Vermont
October 5, 2008

In honor of my mother, who would have been 78 today! J

Whose Kingdom do you follow?

I've been thinking a lot about our allegiances lately. Actually, for quite some time. When people speak out against the War in Iraq, or they seek to return the troops homes safely sooner, many well meaning "Americans" criticize these people as being "un-American" for not supporting the War effort. I don't want to get into the War issue at this point (I have way too much to say about that!), but I am very intrigued as to our allegiances!

When someone says proudly that they are an American, I wonder - what does that mean nowadays? Just as Christianity has been co-opted by the political machinery, I think that being American is close to that same spin. 

What is said in casual speech today can come loaded with all sorts of implied meanings. What one person means by "American," or even "Christian" in conversation can send widely divergent messages. Certainly, when a conservative Republican in today's timeframe uses those words, they are very different from the way a progressive Democrat might used the terms.

What I'm really driving at here is not so much the intention in our meaning, but the allegiance of our politic. Whether one is a Republican Conservative or a Progressive Democrat is not my point. As a Christian, I strive to follow the Way of Jesus. Jesus was not of a particular affiliation - he was affiliated with a power far greater than either side of any system on earth! His way is always radical in comparison to even today's political systems!

And, so the really pertinent question remains - To whose Kingdom to you belong? 

We really don't use kingdom language anymore, but in hearing the message of Jesus, it was clear that he came to establish a new kingdom - a God kingdom not of this earth, and yet, very much a part of this creation!

I am a Christian. I struggle to even define myself as such, because the word is so broadly defined today. Really, I'm one who struggles to follow in Jesus' Way.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created,

things visible and invisible,

whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers -

all things have been created through him and for him.

When the Apostle Paul wrote those words in his letter to the Colossians, he was making a very powerful, political statement. Jesus is the Way, and all others simply fall underneath!

If we dare to call ourselves Christian, we had better work hard to understand fully what that means, and especially what that implies in today's body politic! Especially as we talk about critically important matters like War, Hunger, Economics and Elections.

As those who follow in Jesus' Way, we need to be very intentional in our use of language - especially when talking to fellow American Christians!

Let the Blog Begin!

Blog, blog, blog. Where does one begin when there is so much to say?!


First off, let me begin by warning you that this blog will post my ideas. They are not the church's ideas. They do not represent, nor do they belong to Grace Church. They are mine!


I say that to get Grace off the hook for what might show up in this blog. Only God knows what could come of this space! Or, at least I hope God gets involved in the blogging process! It's just one more way of getting God out there, into the world of cyber reality that has been happening well before we figured it out in the churches...


We are in the middle of Lent. Which means that we're supposed to be on a spiritual journey toward Good Friday and ultimately, Easter resurrection. What does all that mean? Well, it's a mouth full. Lent is a term that describes the lengthening of days - especially as we now come toward spring. In the church, it has often been understood as a time of self-reflection, often associated with "giving up" something, to make one more reflective. I'm not a big "giver up-er" - I was never good at giving up chocolate or tv or coffee! It just didn't make sense to me! Were we giving up caffeine because Jesus gave his life up for us??! (I realize that by giving up something, we are to use that "space" created in our lives for spiritual renewal - to concentrate with the power of caffeine cravings to 'crave' toward God.)

This whole Lenten journey thing is about deepening our understanding of who God is and who Jesus is in our lives today. Through the period of Lent, we reflect on ourselves, on our faith, on our church, on our community, on our world and we grow through that reflection. At least, that's sort of what we're supposed to be doing! Some folks hit hard the journey of Jesus toward the cross of Calvary (we've done that before...a lot!). Some folks reflect on the messiness of this world and how we need God more in our middle! Some seek personal growth, while others seek a more corporate sense of growth.


This particular Lent at Grace Church, we have been focusing on the messages of the earthly Jesus. Jesus has shown us a Way to live our lives relative to the Kingdom of God. We are called to live our lives as if we were citizens of God's kingdom, rather than the particular kingdoms or empires or cultures in which we already live. What a radical guy this Jesus was (and still is!). For us to emigrate our citizenship (spiritually) into God's Kingdom and to begin living according to a completely different and radical set of rules (love thy neighbor, pray for those who persecute you, walk the extra mile, give to those who ask) is utterly crazy! And yet, this is exactly what Jesus has done and what God expects of us!


Can we do it?


That is the question of the season!! Can we really do it?!


I'll talk with you more about this stuff! I'm excited to begin this journey with you all!



God bless!



John



(Oh, if you want to know more about this Kingdom living stuff - tune into Matthew's Gospel and hit the Sermon on the Mount - chapter 5 and beyond. That'll give you a headstart! :)