Living Standing Praying Speaking

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Sermon for Palm UMC, Dinuba, CA on August 26, 2018 on Ephesians 4:25; 5:1-2; 6:10-20
If you got out your Bible to read, you’ll notice I kind of skipped around a bit in putting these verses together- let me explain.. I as a preacher usually follow what’s called the Revised common lectionary, which appoints an old testament, psalm, gospel and epistle lesson for each Sunday, and I usually follow that pretty strictly, and I usually preach from the Gospels. But this month has had strict followers of that pattern preaching 5 Sundays in a row on the same chapter of John 6. I have tried to do that before, it is hard to talk about bread for 5 weeks straight. And I thought it might be a pretty dry way to start out an appointment. So instead, I have kind of done a lectionary soup, some John, and some Ephesians, and for this week I went back and gathered a couple of the verses from Ephesians that would have been for some other Sundays this month that I thought were really good and good for us. But I skipped over a lot of the don’ts, to concentrate on the do’s here. I think Christianity has enough of a reputation of enforcing all the things that you aren’t supposed to do- and sometimes we forget that we are supposed to DO some things, too, not just avoid sin. In that famous paraphrase of Wesley- do no harm but do all the good that you can, any time that you can, in any way that you can.

But even so I have to say that I had to struggle with myself just a little in choosing this passage. Because I really hate war, I really hate violence. Woven into our larger history as a church are too many times when the church has aligned with political powers, blessed armies and even weapons meant for destroying other members of God’s good creation. We need to be mindful of that, and careful. And so I don’t really love, on the surface, the idea of imitating soldiers and fighting, weapons and so forth, even if they are of the spirit.

Yet it has become increasingly clear to me in recent times, that evil is alive and well in our world. The sins of greed and malice are causing people to suffer, in our country and all over the world, evil is manifest in so many different ways. So much of what is going on in the world can bring you down. so yes, we need to be reminded that God equips us, as believers in Jesus Christ, to resist evil, to join in with God to increase what’s good and stand against all that harms.

And these are indeed almost entirely defensive gear- for protecting, resisting, standing- not injuring. Even the sword, is a sword that cannot injure a person but only the evil power that might be within. We aren’t struggling against flesh and blood but spiritual forces, Paul says here- it isn’t about hurting any person, but living out God’s way does not mean passivity and acceptance of evil, either. Nor can we simply turn away from suffering and try to pretend it doesn’t have anything to do with us. We are all one, remember?

And what else is important to remember is- these are plural yous. Our modern English doesn’t distinguish a single you from a plural you- but these verbs in Greek are for groups, for the whole body, for doing it together, not as lone wolves or solitary fighters. All y’all, put on the full armor of God- the armor that is God’s not ours- so you can stand- stand together. Professor Ronald Olson of Luther seminary notes, “Ancient Roman armies simply marched headlong into enemy forces. But the well-protected soldiers stayed in such close formation, shoulder to shoulder, shields overlapping, that the blows of their opponents had little effect. When their enemy was worn out, the Roman legions were still standing.” Even if I don’t agree with the purposes of the roman army, we can see how their method is a good thing to copy when thinking about our Christian community fighting shoulder to shoulder, protecting one another and wearing out the enemy.

So the first piece of armor, defensive gear rather, listed, is the Belt of truth. I included today 4:25 also, which says,

“ Put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “ there’s that one ness again, But, put off falsehood and speak truthfully. It is a sad day in our country- a popular figure who is politically relevant said recently: Truth isn’t truth. I almost didn’t bring this up beloved, because I caught myself wondering if it would be potentially politically off- putting to insist in my sermon, that truth is truth. Then I realized what I was pondering and almost slapped myself. If the church can’t say, truth is truth, then who can? What are we doing if we have to say, well maybe truth is truth and maybe it isn’t? then nothing is anything and how can you know which way is up let alone who is God and what is good?

We can have different viewpoints about subjective matters and invite people who come from different walks of life to help us know how they see it, yes!- but truth is still truth. And we are to speak that way. Speak the truth In love, I think that was 2 weeks ago too, mentioned- speak the truth in love, say hard things gently when appropriate, caring for the person not just the message; but for goodness sake don’t speak falsehood or deceitfully, even if leaders of your country are- remember where our first allegiance lies, to Christ alone.

Putting on the belt of truth- is to not be bound by anyone’s falsehood. And there’s a lot of lies out there, beloved. Political and otherwise. We wrap truth around us as part of God’s protective gear.

Next, The breastplate of righteousness- now righteousness is one of these churchy words that we almost forget what it means because it isn’t part of our everyday language- but really just means, doing good. Doing good with your resources, being generous, lending a helping hand, caring for people, and not hurting anyone. Have that as your protection over your heart. Your doing good is God’s protecting you. John Wesley points out in his notes that the breastplate is over the heart which is the seat of conscience- right doing, right living, keeps your conscience from being compromised.

Your shoes are a readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace. Whatever makes your ready, in any given moment, to reveal the good news of Jesus Christ. I will mention one of the other verses I included today- 5:1-2 that our Feet are to be walking in the way of love – just as Christ gave himself up for us. Just like that- that is no easy walk, that is really hard- but the way of love, walking that way, giving of ourselves- is how we are revealing the gospel of peace to those around us, yes even the assailing powers. And gotta throw in the love- as dearly loved children- again all this isn’t something we do on our own. It is all gift from God and possible because of that great love of God for all of us. Walking in that way, wearing those readiness shoes- is possible because God has shown us how.

The shield of faith- trusting God so much that even flaming arrows of evil don’t phase us. Again, with all of us holding the shields together, it is that much easier. The helmet of salvation- that God has already rescued us, and no one can take that salvation away. Even if, for example in those ancient times, one would be killed for their faith, they knew that God would raise them up at the end. That helmet is strong and impenetrable and allows for boldness, which even Paul himself by the end is asking that they help him, in prayer, to have.

And then that sole offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. The message of a God who lovingly created everything that is, time and again brought people near after they strayed or disobeyed, who came in the flesh to show the extent of the deep strong love, who will make everything right in the end. No evil can stand against the message of such complete love, brought to life by the Holy Spirit. For this is no stagnant, dusty message, but a living word.

What evils in our society can we name, that we can slay with this message of God’s love?

Luke Powery, an African –America preacher, offers some exposition of these verses, and brings up that even this fighting, is a non-violent fighting. It is a fighting with words that does not injure, but does help. It is fighting for change, and he brings up the sanitation workers’ strike of 1968, who claimed their dignity and humanity in the face of mistreatment. That is an example of slaying evil with the message of a God who loves everyone and wants that imprint of God to be respected in everyone. So every evil that I can think of can be defeated by that message. Homelessness? God loves everybody, everybody should have a place. Predatory lending practices? No one should be taken advantage of, because she is precious to God. Exploitation of workers? Same. Racism, sexism, it is all destroyed when we hold it up to the story of a God of love. Destroying God’s creation for profit? Nope, God loves all of it. War? One of God’s beloved children could get hurt.

Ok so I know it’s more complicated than that- but too often we just shrug our shoulders as the church and say, yeah it’s complicated, so we’ll just let that evil be. We’ll just let it go on. NO. NO. No. is what Paul is saying here. You stand together, you fight. Fight without hurting any person. Just hurt the evil powers.

It seems that Paul runs out of pieces of armor for metaphor but goes on to talk about the importance of prayer. I’ll help him, I think prayer is the spiritual workout, the intense training, and the muscle built up so we can use all of these other tools.

And then he reveals the reality of his situation. He is in chains, imprisoned because he has boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ- yet he is asking his brothers and sisters in Ephesus to pray that he continue to be bold. He was not sitting behind a comfortable desk somewhere like I was to write this message. He was showing the example of how to resist evil- and even he was imitating the example of Christ. So we have the legacy passed down over generations. Our time and place is very different. We are no longer imprisoned for our faith, we are no long in the minority as Christians, but the struggle against evil and all that hurts God’s children goes on. Let us stand, together, with all that God has already given us, to resist the evil powers, and insist that God’s way should be our way, as we pray every Sunday, that God’s will be done on earth as in heaven. May it be so.

One- But Not the Same

PALM UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Posted on by

Sermon Preached at Palm UMC Dinuba, CA Aug 12, 2018 by Pastor Michelle Magee
Ephesians 4:1-16
There is a beautiful sentiment expressed here in vs 4-6
One
It’s Beautiful, lofty, an ideal to aspire to-
And so seldom lived out in the history of humanity.

Paul makes explicit earlier in the letter that he is writing to a mixed group of Jews and Gentiles, and that he believes that what Christ accomplished in his death and resurrection reconciled those two broad ethnic groups that had considered one another outsiders and often enemies, for centuries- Paul makes clear in chapter 2 that because of Christ these two opposing groups have been reconciled and made into one body-( 2: 14-16)

While we may hold these same lofty goals, we know that it’s much more common for different groups to see one another as enemies and push away, than to work through their differences and find unity. At the prayer group on Thursday we mentioned pieces of our own nation’s history: the Japanese internment during World War 2, the way Muslims have been treated since September 11, and current ongoing discrimination of immigrants, particularly those from Mexico and central America. Whenever there is a tension or problem, it seems too easy for many to merely scapegoat an entire ethnic group and try to punish them even when they are honest hardworking, what we would call “good people” in other circumstances. You can recall other examples I’m sure, they are all too common in our world, discrimination, labeling, exclusion and scapegoating of all kinds. And those hurts can multiply and fester and result in real people being hurt.

Paul is pleading with the church at Ephesus for oneness, for unity, we know that part of their challenge was ethnic differences. Yet he is convinced that in Christ there has already been reconciliation and there can be unity. Unity does not mean uniformity. We don’t have to put away our true selves or pretend to be something we are not. Over and over in the Bible God makes clear that we are each made uniquely and that the diversity- the differences of all of us –is on purpose and wonderful.

But there is work that goes with that unity – Paul outlines at the beginning of this passage, being humble, patient, bearing with one another in love. Then at the end of this passage he brings up speaking the truth in love. This is another beautiful phrase that is much harder to carry out than to say. How do we lovingly say hard things to one another, like, I was hurt when you made that comment, I am feeling left out because of how decisions are made, and so on. I think this is a major challenge of many churches brothers and sisters- it is easy in the short term to just hold it in, not made a scene, want things to stay smooth- but when hurts accumulate, there is some kind of outlet for that- and often in church, it is just people walking away. I am not speaking to anything specific here at Palm UMC but trying to bring it up before I hear about anything specific- because I have seen this too many times in my 9 years of ministry.

In the other verses that follow he talks about different gifts that believers may possess- some apostles some prophets some evangelists some pastors, some teachers. I’ll just sidebar to say in our structure we don’t have roles for all of these different gifts so we mostly just have pastors, and deacons- but just because that is the official role with a salary- everyone has gifts. The whole ministry depends on everyone recognizing the gifts for ministry she or he has and putting them to good use.
That is how we grow up into being mature as the body of Christ.
Seeing our own gifts, helping one another see each other’s gifts, appreciating our diversity and seeking unity at the same time. Ok, easy peasy!

Unfortunately it is a great big challenge. There’s something in our human nature that always makes us compare ourselves to others, and often to see ourselves in competition. Then we also absorb messages about who we are and who others are, that aren’t always true. And that keeps us from appreciating our differences and seeing one another’s gifts as that, as gifts, that enrich us, not take away.
I promise I won’t tell you stories about Mexico every single Sunday. But as I think about how I have grown in my life in appreciating difference, and unlearning messages that aren’t true, that time in Mexico was huge.

Of course, It wasn’t like I had any experience encountering people who were different from me, but they had all been little steps of encountering other cultures in my life. But my first somewhat longterm, 4.5 months, immersion was that semester in Mexico.
Now for the first time I knew what it means to have this fish out of water , truly cross cultural experience. Until you leave your own fishtank, you don’t know what it is. Have always swam in water of living in US., now I had to learn to navigate everything all over again. How to shop for food in the grocery store with completely different labels and foods I didn’t recognize, or order in a restaurant, not use my mother tongue. I knew quite a bit of Spanish but knowing some Spanish and actually communicating with other people are different ballgames. My key card to my room stopped working, and I found some service workers for the university and kept using the Spanish word I knew for word “works”as in, it doesn’t work- but the wrong one. They kept correcting me gently until I nodded. Then they helped me get it fixed. How you greet people in Mexico includes touch and a kiss. Making eye contact in certain situations meant something different than what I was used to. To swim in that water required learning some basic things all over again.

And during my time there, during that semester in Mexico that I first, really understood this message. One body and one spirit- not because we all think and speak the same way
But because of the love of Christ, we can belong to one another without trying to be one another or beat one another. Because of what Christ has done, we don’t have to be someone we’re not, or be in competition with others.
Of course I was already saying it, that God loves everyone. I believed it on one level.
But having been brought up in America, and I do love my country- but there was-is often a subtext message in the culture that invaded churches too- we have it something they don’t- we know better than them- God bless America, right, almost as if America has God’s blessing a little more secure than any other nation.
But living in Mexico, meeting Mexicans who had strong faith, who were complicated people, all different kinds of personalities, but so, so hospitable and welcoming to me – I started to get on a different level of comprehending this, that God loved them just as they were, God loved them already, God didn’t need me to tell them or teach them- God had been loving people in another land, blessing people in another land, for long, long before I ever got there.
It came to me one evening, I was a little homesick, a little lonely and I watched a sunset. And it was beautiful. And God had been giving beautiful sunsets to not just my own area or my own country but here, too. God was there, God was real.
I don’t know if I can adequately explain it to you.

But from then on I started to wean off the false idea of a God who loves any country better than any other, or any group of people better than any other. God loves us all.
God doesn’t want us to try to make others more like us, or for us to become more like them- all of our cultures have something of the imprint of God in them. God made us all different on purpose, that is God’s creative gift to us.

As we read this passage from Ephesians, we see Paul telling the mostly Gentile audience – he has been telling them in the letter that they are kind of second, first the Jews were close to God and now they can be too- but here he is saying- you are equally gifted. The gifts aren’t just for one group or another- it is because of God’s grace- vs 7.

What we have to do is begin to see one another as a gift. Not as a threat, not as competition, but gift. This is a huge challenge, but we start right here in church, Here, with one another, we practice. And then the next step is to practice seeing the people living in this neighborhood, as a gift to us, that we can learn from them as well as share with them.

You are a gift. Turn to your neighbor and say, you are a gift.
You have gifts for ministry. Turn to your neighbor and say, you have gifts for ministry.
We need one another- turn to your neighbor and say, we need one another.

I see this as kind of the crux of this whole passage- because Paul is talking about becoming mature, growing up together to be the fullness of Christ’s body- which is what we want, right, we don’t want to stay in that infant state where we don’t know which way is up- but to put some work into knowing our gifts, knowing one another’s gifts, putting them into practice, working together, and all the while receiving the grace from God to see one another as gift, yes from our different walks of life, different sizes, different backgrounds and different ways of being gifted for ministry. And that is key to the witness we give the world.

So yes as Bono has sung, we’re one, but we’re not the same- or- let us be one, but never try to pretend we’re the same. We are all loved by an amazing God of love, so let’s let that reconciliation that Christ has made possible, be lived out here among us. For There is one body and one spirit just as you were called to one hope –one Lord one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Amen.

Jesus the Bread of Life -or- What’ve You Got?

PALM UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Posted on by

Sermon preached at Palm UMC, Dinuba, CA on August 5, 2018 by Pastor Michelle Magee
John 6:1-13, 35

Have you ever had God surprise you by providing for you, even before you asked? Have you ever experienced that abundant gift, filling you before you even knew you were hungry?
I asked myself that question, and I have two little stories to share with you; one from 18 years ago, one from two days ago.
First, in the year 2000 when I was in college, I went to Mexico to study for a semester. Part of my routine was walking a few of the blocks of the city Puebla several times a week. And there was an indigenous lady who would sit on a certain corner of sidewalk and sell a few snacks and gum spread on a blanket. After a few weeks I started saying good afternoon to her when I passed. A couple of times I bought a little something but I usually did not. But, I knew that on the scale of social hierarchy- every society has its discriminations and systems-, this woman was near the bottom. Female, indigenous, not begging but selling just on the sidewalk, one could easily deduce she was pretty poor. While I was a white American with enough privilege to be attending university and able to travel to another country. I knew I could not change her circumstances but wanted to share at least that, a greeting in passing. This went on for a couple of months, then my time there was coming to an end. I wasn’t sure if she would realize that I had left or maybe wonder what had happened to me, so I stopped on my last day and explained in my broken Spanish that I wouldn’t be coming by anymore. She got up from the sidewalk and embraced me, kissed my cheek, and thanked me for noticing her every day. She pressed some of her precious wares into my hand and would not accept payment, and she said may God bless you. I was so humbled to receive such a gift from someone who had almost nothing, that moment touched my soul deeply and I remember her often. That small gift filled not my stomach but my heart, and God was in the midst of it.
Another story, maybe simpler- but this last week we ran out of tomatoes. I knew the Thursday night market in Hanford would have Farmer’s Market tomatoes, so much better than the grocery store ones. So even though I went to the store on Thursday, I did not buy tomatoes because I was waiting to get the good ones at the market. But we got to the market a little later than planned, and the band was an 80s cover band which was so good, so we sat in the grass and listened and ate some food and I was dancing a little and all of the sudden it was over and when I thought we could go grab some tomatoes on the way out- all the stands had already packed up and left. So I was disappointed. Then Friday morning I took my kids to the park for a little bit and planned to go to the library form there but then remembered on Fridays the library doesn’t open until noon and it was only 11 so I thought about what we could do and remembered the storybook garden museum right by the library and I had heard it was pretty good. So we went there. But by the time I had remembered and gotten there it was 11:30 and the lady in charge heard us talking about the entrance fee and said, oh no be our guests today you don’t have much time to look at anything, we close at 12- but the first thing she instructed my children to do was- pick some free tomatoes from the garden. Free entrance, free tomatoes.
And they did. And they enjoyed the little play houses with storybook themes and had a grand time and we took home probably a pound and a half of different sized, garden picked tomatoes. I thought I would just do without for a few more days but no, God surprised me by providing even beyond what I needed.

The generosity of strangers, the sharing of food. God is in our midst in these holy moments.

The feeding of the multitudes is one of the few stories present in all four gospels. Each gospel tells the story a little bit differently. In this one, Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee. To exactly where, we don’t know. He could be within the region of Galilee still, or he could have crossed to Gentile territory. To the place chiefly of another culture, another religion, another people. Or maybe not. There’s lots of ways to cross a big lake. And we 2000 years later, like to try to separate out here’s where the Jews lived, here’s where the Greeks lived, here’s where the Samaritans lived, and in the broad sense that is knowable- but it’s also true that the ancient peoples had been invading one another and living together in peace and marrying one another for centuries to different degrees -so sometimes it’s good to remember that Jesus, too, lived in a multicultural place and time.
Great crowds are already following Jesus because of the way he had been healing people. Jesus in many healing stories of the gospels will first ask someone, what do you want me to do for you? But in this case he knows the hunger of the people because probably his own tummy is rumbling. It’s that time of day and everyone is hungry-Jews or Gentiles, everyone gets hungry. He starts discussing the situation with his disciples. He puts the need out there. Philip is sure that there is no way to feed these people, 8 months wages wouldn’t be enough. But Andrew, even though it seems like so little in the face of the need, tells Jesus that a child has offered five barley loaves and two small fish. Philip starts from what they don’t have. Andrew starts from what they do have, even though it doesn’t seem to be enough, not anywhere near enough…
Jesus takes that small offering of a child, thanks God for it- and you know what happens. Jesus serves everyone, and somehow everyone eats. Everyone is satisfied. There are even 12 whole baskets of leftovers. They share food and they know, God is in their midst.
In John chapter 6, this happens, and then Jesus talks, and talks, and talks about it for the rest of the rather long chapter. And in that talking comes this pronouncement, Jesus says: I am the Bread of life. We know this to be true- there are ways that Jesus satisfies us! even though we still need to consume calories and liquids, there is a filling that comes from knowing Christ in our lives, it is a miracle. I asked at the beginning and if you have a story – I hope you will tell me, today or another day, of when God surprised you and provided for you, a time you have experienced an abundant gift you did not even know was coming.
Today we will celebrate Holy Communion, and physically eat a small taste of earthly bread, which by faith we know is a way of experiencing Jesus Christ coming into us. That too is a miracle. I don’t have words today to go into that- well at communion time we tell the story of all God has done and why this is important to do- but I hope you have that experience, maybe not every single time you take communion, because it can’t be forced, but now and again to experience all over again, God’s amazing grace, and know that God coming to us in the Holy Supper is indeed a miracle.
As we begin our time together brothers and sisters, we celebrate the faith we all have in common, I will be taking time to get to know all of you, but we also know there are challenges ahead for us. I don’t have DS Debra’s letter of expectations yet, but I know that in it will be mentioned the challenge of reaching out to our neighbors here whose demographics are not reflected in the congregation. As Aiko mentioned when I was at her Bible study on Wednesday, we need to work on how we reach out to those who live in the area surrounding this building, I’m speaking of our immediate neighbors, many of whom are Latino or Hispanic. At the same time we have our own multicultural understanding to navigate.
But what sticks out to me in this Bible story and the stories I told you before, is how this is a part of the human experience- we all have a need for one another. We have a need to share what we have. Even when it’s supposed to be a transactional relationship- you pay me this for that- we have these God moments of receiving what we do not pay for. That older woman on the corner of streets in Puebla, another woman not so poor, the little boy in the story, offer what they have as a gift- and God shows up and we are all filled. These are miracles of God becoming present in our midst as we share ourselves with one another, with the blessing of Jesus.
So yes I chose two sermon titles today- yes Jesus is the bread of life. We receive in abundance from his never ending grace and love and it fills us without being able to understand it sometimes- Jesus fills us in that amazing way.
But also, when we think together about the challenges of the congregation, let’s not start with what we don’t have. Let’s start with what we do have. What’ve you got, that you can share? Sisters and brothers: If we put it in Jesus’ hands, there can be miracles. Amen.