Exodus 3:1-15
Rev. Dr. Chris Ayers
When Is The Last Time Your Church Led Anybody Out of Egypt?
I have observed the misery of my people, says God.
If that’s true why aren’t churches jumping over pews to get more miserable people in their churches?
I have heard their cry, says Yahweh.
If that’s true why do so many Christians do ministry at a safe distance, every now and then, rather than establish on-going ministries that lead to life time relationships in which the cries of people are heard day in and day out.
I know their sufferings, says the Creator of the Earth.
If that’s true why are congregations the way they are? When is the last time your church led any person out of Egypt?
In her book, Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion Sara Miles tells about how she surprisingly became a Christian and a member at St. Gregory’s in San Francisco. Sara noticed that at St. Gregory’s they had great community dinners – everyone brought pasta with truffle oil, but they didn’t feed people who weren’t like them. St. Gregorians were arty and overeducated and terrified of people who were different. Their foray into community outreach was adopting a poor family. So patronizing. In addition, they hand-decorated a thousand Easter eggs for homeless men. Wow. Amazing. Easter eggs, a sure fire way to bring in the kingdom of God, a tried and true formula to get folk out of Egypt.
So Sara, only a week after being baptized, started organizing a food pantry at St. Gregory’s. Everyone was excited about the panty. NO - not really.
“You don’t want to go too fast and not have the support you need,” someone commented.
Another said, “It would be dreadful if this fails – bad for you and bad for the church.”
Another St. Gregorian noted that the church had just bought an extravagant altar – a six thousand dollar altar. “Now we are going to bring in people who will scuff it up.”
One of the clergy staff met with Sara to give her the bad news about her proposal. “Well, we discussed the food pantry idea. The reactions basically ranged from ‘Over my dead body’ to ‘When hell freezes over.’”
Church members were worried about the polarization over the proposal for a food pantry, what it would do to congregational unity. Also, what if the church became a magnet for hundreds of poor, crazy, homeless, potentially dangerous street people? How were they going to decide who to serve – what if people came who didn’t really need the food. What if thieves started coming back after the panty to steal? How could they raise enough money to pay for feeding all comers? How would the nice neighbors react to crowds of hungry strangers on St. Gregory’s steps? How would they recruit enough volunteers? How were they going to deal with the mess, and damage to the sanctuary floor, and security, and garbage, and the risk of damaging their beautiful icons and art and the new altar?
One deacon said, “We can’t keep the church picked up and the kitchen clean as it is.”
As if Jesus said, Blessed are the cleaned and picked up churches.
Sara responded to the concerns in this way. “The first time I came to the Table at St. Gregory’s, I was a hungry stranger. Each week since then, I’ve shown up – undeserving and needy – and each week, someone’s hands have broken bread and brought me into communion. Because of how I’ve been welcomed and fed in the Eucharist, I see staring a food pantry at church not as an act of outreach but one of gratitude. To feed others means acknowledging our own hunger and at the same time acknowledging the amazing abundance we’re fed with by God.”
The food pantry happened.
A woman in the choir handed Sara fifty dollars. “We were always hungry when we were kids,” she said.
Six church members agreed to volunteer for the pantry.
Leaflets about the pantry were distributed. And they came.
Sara noticed: the people who came to the pantry were like me: messed up, often prickly or difficult, yearning for friendship. I saw how they were hungry, the way I was.
St. Gregory became among other things, “the Church of the One True Sack of Groceries.”
Come feed and be fed. Blessed are the poor and those who are in intimate relationship with the poor.
Oh, there were problems. The pantry created problems for St. Gregory’s, but they were the right kind of problems. Sometimes a church doesn’t have enough problems. Often a congregation has the wrong problems.
Why do churches and Christians make it so hard to do anything Jesus did?
Why do churches worship so much and talk so much and study so much and DO so little.
For the first time – for the first time since 1989, since I’ve been at Wedgewood, and for all I know the first time since Wedgewood’s birth, a Wedgewoodian, Keith Dennis has gone on a mission trip. And now another Wedgewoodian, Hope Gold, is going on a medical mission trip.
Do you ever get impatient with yourself, with Wedgewood, with progressive Christians who think it is enough to proclaim sanctimoniously that they are committed to “peace and justice”.
And Jesus said, “Blessed are the liberal sloganeers.”
Faith – faith working through love, taking on concrete tasks.
How can churches do so little when there’s so much that needs to be done?
Liberal waffling.
Would you have any interest in salting and spicing a section and scripture, any interest in making it come alive?
Jesus told the disciples just to shut up, to quit thinking of all the problems, and to just go feed the people.
So – are we doing to do it, or are we going to talk it to death, or are we going to hand-decorate Easter eggs? Are we going to leave people in Egypt or are we going to lead them out?
Romans 12:9-21
Rev. Brian Jackson
My experience with Paul’s apparent inconsistencies has been trying. One of the things I like about this passage, however, is the consistency of message. It affirms the Old Testament stipulation (the Levitical law code of Leviticus 19:18) that warns against vengeance while promoting the revolutionary idea to love one’s neighbor.
This a beautiful passage for a guy with so many hang-ups about women. Most of what Jesus seems to represent is spelled out here, thus the old tag of “The Gospel According to Paul.” If the Old Testament law code suggested it, and Paul and Jesus renewed the idea, and if almost every other major religion has a similar message, why have we not gotten it right? Why do God’s people—you know—the ones in your church—still seek vengeance and persecute as a matter of course?
Haddon W. Robinson, in Biblical Preaching, suggests submitting one’s exegetical idea to three developmental questions: “What does this mean? Is it true? What difference does it make?” It is a habit I found helpful in my own preaching. There are some beautiful phrases in this section of Romans:
Let love be genuine
Love one another
Weep with those who weep
Live in harmony
Do not repay anyone evil for evil
Live peaceably with all
Leave room for the wrath of God
Overcome evil with good
That last one seems to be the gist of it. Defeating evil by doing good … how can the audience hear this in a way that it will work for them?
What does it mean?
Is it true?
What difference does it make?
