Faithful Presence - Our Shared Gifts

All Saints Sunday
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 Ephesians 4:1-14

Today we are wrapping up a series of sermons where we’ve looked at what it means for us, as individuals and as a church, to be a faithful presence in the community. I hope you have enjoyed the past few weeks as much as I have, next week we will start a series on gratitude as we head into the Thanksgiving season and that’s why this morning we are talking about what it means for us to be faithful and present with one another by sharing our gifts, talents, and passions with one another.

Our reading starts with the word, ‘therefore’ and it’s an important word because it means we have to pay attention to what’s come before. But more than being a word that tells us about the past, therefore is a word that tells us something about a cause and effect. Irene is allergic to gluten and dairy, therefore, since I love my wife I chose to adhere to a gluten and dairy free life at home… with an exception for beer.

Our text for this morning starts with the, ‘therefore’, therefore we have to pay attention to what has come before. So let’s look just a few sentences back.

Near the end of Ephesians chapter 3, just before our reading this morning, Paul writes and prays, “I ask that Christ will live in your hearts through faith. As a result of having strong roots in love, I ask that you’ll have the power to grasp love’s width and length, height and depth, together with all believers. I ask that you’ll know the love of Christ that is beyond knowledge so that you will be filled entirely with the fullness of God.

Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us; glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus for all generations, forever and always. Amen.”

Because Christ is in our hearts through faith, because grace and peace pulses through us in such a way that we recognize love’s width and length, height and depth, we experience the fullness of God that is more than we could ask for or imagine.

Therefore

we live worthy of our calling

we conduct ourselves with humility, gentleness and patience

we accept one another with love

we celebrate the diversity of our gifts as we share them with one another.

That line, “Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine” always sticks out to me, because, to be honest, this is more than I could ask for or imagine. Each one of us has something in our lives where we can sit back and wonder, how did this happen?

Think about Ione Shadduck’s story. Growing up on a farm in Wisconsin I doubt Ione thought someday I’m going to be in the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame, but here we are. Ione, as she should have, asked for equal pay for equal work, but it was refused so she left that job and found her way to being a “Rosie the Riveter” testing steel drums during the war. From there she went on to be a part of the Women’s Army Corps and with the help of the GI Bill, Ione got a degree in Physical Education that eventually lead her to working at Drake University where she earned a law degree, after creating the opportunity for women to play 5 on 5 basketball, because as fun as 6 on 6 basketball was for women in Iowa, it was only played in Iowa and Oklahoma because Iowans and Oklahomans mistakenly assumed women could only run half the court and not throw a ball that far.

As if changing college athletics wasn’t already more than Ione could have asked for or imagined, with her law degree Ione went on to fight discrimination in Iowa, setting precedent for arguing about the economic contributions of stay-at-home wives and standing before the state Supreme Court arguing that the best interest of the child is what’s most important when it comes to custody.

And if that wasn’t more than Ione could have asked for or imagined, she went on, therefore, to be a founding member of the Iowa Women Attorneys Association, served for 12 years at the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, and was on the Governors Committee to help remove sexism in the Iowa Code.

I only know bits and pieces of Ione’s story, and for most of you, I’m lucky if I remember your name. But what I know that you all live a life that witnesses to the God who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine.

We are not tragic guests in this life, therefore, look around and be inspired, because the people around you are inspiring in ways that we either don’t know or take for granted.

The title saint is not earned, it’s given. We are all saints, for as Saint Paul puts it in Philippians, “For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and work for [God’s] good pleasure.” We may stumble into our sainthood, we may only feel like occasional or accidental saints, but we are saints, beloved and blessed by God, not because of who we are but because of whose we are. You are a beloved child of God.

We believe in the God that, through us, and sometimes even in spite of us, creates holiness, justice, and joy. Even if we only occasionally or accidentally stumble into our sainthood, we experience the same transformative spirit that inspired the disciples to drop their nets and follow, that caused Mary to return from the tomb and proclaim the Jesus is not there, because the same spirit, the same hope of unbounded mercy, isn’t just for us, it’s about us.

The poet Malcolm Guite puts it this way in their sonnet, ‘Trinity Sunday’

In the Beginning, not in time or space,

But in the quick before both space and time,

In life, in Love, in co-inherent Grace,

In three in one and one in three, in rhyme,

In music, in the whole creation story,

In His own image, His Imagination,

The Triune Poet makes us for His glory,

And makes us each the other’s inspiration.

He calls us out of darkness, chaos, chance,

To improvise a music of our own,

To sing the chord that calls us to the dance,

Three notes resounding from a single tone,

To sing the End in whom we all begin;

Our God, beyond, beside us, and within.

It is estimated that there have been roughly 108 billion people that have ever lived and the amazing thing is, none of them has ever been you. Of all the people that have ever lived, and of all of the people yet to be born, only you will ever be you. No one sees the world the way you do, listens to music like you do, laughs like you do, or speaks or loves or experiences greatness and grief like you do. Do you realize how completely and utterly unique you are? You are a beloved and blessed saint, and you alone get to find the answer to the question, why am I here?

There is a reason for the extravagant gift of your life, and that answer is your sainthood – given to you by God not because of what you do, but because you are a beloved and blessed child of God. I know we carry within us contradictions. As much as we can contribute to goodness and grace, we can be petty and cruel, just drive with me on 235 some afternoon and you will see me let one person merge peacefully while giving the finger to another.

We all carry a shadow within us, but at the very same time we shine a light of love.

In our reading this morning, it’s written that God, “gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. [God’s] purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ.”

The saint that you are will not be the same as the saint that I seek to be. We don’t have the same roles, but that doesn’t mean we have different ranks. There is only one rank in our faith and that is child of God where everyone is welcomed, valued, loved, and encouraged to live into the fullness of their life.

We don’t have the same gifts, because God know that none of us can do everything but every one of us can do something.

Your passions, your gifts, your skills, your energies, your life, is utterly your own and God has trusted you to make the most of it.

Jesus came to show us that we are witnesses to the incredible truth and hope that is the love that is God dwelling within each one of us. In the Gospel of John Jesus says, “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” Jesus says that there will come a day when we realize what has been true all along, where we will recognize the reality that we are God carriers, we are where God has chosen to dwell, where the infinite has come to live in the finite.

Jesus came to show us how the fullness of our humanity points to the fullness of our divinity. When we live a life conscious of the exquisite gift that we’ve been given, when we share our passions, our loves, our energies, our gifts, with one another, we become witnesses to an overlooked miracle, because we don’t simply forget about the miracle that is our life, we overlook that in our existence there is a heaven hidden within it.

It is our faithful presence, it is the ways that we love, and share, and encourage, and bless, and hope, that makes things on earth as it is in heaven.

I know that, because I attend a lot of funerals where we come together to share the words that we too often waited too long to say about one another. We save our best compliments, the most profound statements of gratitude and appreciation, for funerals.

Once, a family did ask me to say that their loved one was a jerk, but he was still our jerk.

At a funeral, we tend to forget the contradictions within us because we have to celebrate the greatness of those that have gone before us. There is something about death that forces our inner poet to the surface. When we lose someone we love, all of a sudden we feel free to speak the most beautiful sentiments of admiration and gratitude that we’ve kept bottled up for years.

But how many people long to hear those words their whole life?

Life can be mundane, weeks ebb and flow, lulling us into the belief that all we have is time. We rarely feel the urgency of our existence and because of that we hesitate to express our hearts to one another.

But then, in the blink of a tear-soaked eye, everything is urgent.

In the moments and the months and the years we live following the loss of those we love, we are hit with a flood of every unshared thought and withheld word. We remember their sweetness and ours that went unshared. We plead for just a few seconds back so that we can say all that was never said, so much so that we would sell everything we have for just a little more time.

Eulogies are great, but they have terrible timing.

Eulogies should also be for the living and we should speak lavish and unashamed words of love and kindness to one another.

There are people who need to see the full contents of your heart. They deserve the blessing of knowing that they matter, today.

Realize that time is startlingly short, give eulogies to the living and memorialize one another face-to-face. Speak words of love, to those you love. Don’t wait, because you may end up waiting too long.

Say everything while they can still hear, and say it soon because there will come a day, when you will cease to be. One day there will be a funeral for you.

A physical remnant of you may be there, but that is all. You, the real you, will be somewhere else. And on that day, at your funeral, you will be missing something that I hope you wont take for granted today – your voice.

You won’t get the last word. You will not have one more opportunity to set the record straight because once your voice goes silent, your legacy will no longer be defined by you.

At your funeral, you may not be able to speak, but two things will: the sum total of the life you lived up until the moment your heart stopped beating— and the voices of those your life impacted.

The memory of you will define your legacy. So if you are listening to me this morning that means you still have time to say something in this world; to those you pass by, those you interact with for a second, those you sleep next to, gave birth to, those you love dearly.

You can move through this day, giving people whatever it is you hope they will hold within their hearts on the day you depart. You can speak the voice that will echo in their hearts long after yours has stopped speaking here.

Today you have the opportunity to outlive your own life, by giving voice to your legacy.

Maybe you don’t care what happens after you’re gone. Maybe you’re fine with the idea of everyone else getting to decide what parts of you get preserved and remembered. But if leaving something beautiful to those who remain here, matters—you get to do that here and now.

You won’t get to speak on the day of your funeral. So today, be the saint that God knows you already are.

Because Christ is in our hearts through faith, because grace and peace pulses through us in such a way that we recognize love’s width and length, height and depth, we experience the fullness of God that is more than we could ask for or imagine.

Therefore, live worthy of your calling, conduct yourselves with humility, gentleness and patience and accept one another with love. Celebrate the diversity of all of our gifts and we share them with one another, because when we live into our sainthood, as we celebrate the miracle that is this life, we join with God, and with all those that have gone before us, to make things on earth more like they are in heaven. Amen.

 

This Sunday, special thanks to Nadia Bolz Weber, John Pavlovitz, and Shane Hipps

Grace United Methodist Church, Des Moines IA 8\18\19 service

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Posted by GraceDesMoines on Sunday, November 3, 2019

November 4 – 9, 2019

Monday

Read Matthew 16:24-27, John 12:23-26

Notice – Quarterback Roger Staubach once said that, “Winning isn’t getting ahead of others. It’s getting ahead of yourself.” When we think about the gifts and skills that we have been given, part of what Jesus means in our reading today is not using our gifts to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves by giving and investing in others and the work of God’s grace. Do you have any beliefs about greatness or success that make it harder for you to accept Jesus’ teaching about a truly winning life? What helps your thinking reach beyond those inherited or learned cultural beliefs?

Pray – Jesus, help me to focus less on getting ahead of others and more on getting ahead of myself. Teach me how to value and honor sacrifice in the way you modeled for me. Amen.

Tuesday

Read Ephesians 4:11-16, 29-32

Notice – Today’s reading reminded Christians in Ephesus that their varied gifts were not tools to outdo others in a quest for power or glory. Connected in Christ, they needed to respect, depend on and support one another. When we’re physically healthy, our body parts do not envy or compete with another. Have you ever seen people with different gifts or ministries yield to the all-too-human urge to view other gifts or ministries as “rivals” for attention and resources? We’re all naturally inclined to believe whatever we’re involved in is the “most important.” How can we allow the “one Lord” behind them all to help us avoid unhealthy silo-ing or infighting?

Pray – God, keep teaching me how to value and respect all your children, no matter how differently they use their gifts to serve you. Amen.

Wednesday

Read1 Corinthians 12:4-12, 26-30

Notice – The apostle Paul said God gives each Christian gifts and talents that empower us to join in God’s mission. But no one person receives all the gifts and talents needed for the job. God wants believers to work together. Have you ever seen your gifts become more effective as you join them with other people’s various gifts in a team effort? Think and pray about one way, in the next 12 months, that you might more fully integrate your gifts and abilities into the “the body of Christ’s” overall mission.

Pray – Jesus, thank you for calling me to play a role in your mission to change the world for the better. Help me to discover my role, and to play it with full energy and commitment. Amen

Thursday

Read 2 Peter 1:4-8

Notice – Peter said we must “make every effort” to build these positive traits into our life. Scholar N. T. Wright wrote, “Peter is urging his readers to… become more fully human, he says, by building one aspect of Christian character on top of another: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, piety, family affection, and finally love. All these take thought; all these take effort. They don’t happen by accident.” What daily choices are you making to allow God’s power to build a noble, fruitful character in you? How do your gifts, talents, and skills share your Christian character?

Pray – God, guide me to the choices and activities I need to bear the kind of fruit in my life for which you have “planted” me. Amen. .

Friday

 Read Jeremiah 31:31-34, Romans 14:4-18

Notice – The prophet Jeremiah and the apostle Paul both saw that the ultimate hope of that, for individuals and communities, lay in people who chose to serve that Jesus as Lord, as King. They trusted that only Jesus’ forgiving, loving presence could transform people from the inside out. In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God to let us start over and we promise that we will let others start over with us. Why would God’s forgiving mercy change how a person lives? How has your gratitude for God’s grace changed you? How can gratitude be a gift that you use and share today?

Pray – Jesus, engrave your instructions on my heart. Remind me that those instructions include not passing judgments on servants who answer to you, not me. Amen.

Saturday

ReadIsaiah 18:4-6, Jeremiah 5:1, 10-11

Notice – On vineyards, pruning vines is necessary for growth. Excess leaves have to be cut away to encourage a greater yield. In our lives, we sometimes experience pruning too. Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and others (e.g. Amos 2:6-8) challenged Israelites to stop acting in ways that betrayed their covenant with God and hurt the weakest of their neighbors. They spoke about pruning branches that aren’t the LORD’s. When have you seen someone close to you (maybe even yourself) needing to set aside some attitude or behavior that was clearly not what God wanted in their life? Are there any areas of your life that you need to prune so that your gifts can grow?

Pray – God, when you find an unfruitful branch growing in my life, warn me and give me the courage to honestly face the problem, and trust your pruning action. Amen.

All Saints Sunday

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