OUT OF THE ASHES-WE BELONG TO GOD

Sermon:  We Belong to God

Presbytery of Lake Huron

March 1, 2011

Joel 2: 1-2, 12-17

2Blow the trumpet in Zion;
   sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
   for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—
² a day of darkness and gloom,
   a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
   a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
   nor will be again after them
   in ages to come.

¹² Yet even now, says the Lord,
   return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
¹³   rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
   for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
   and relents from punishing.
¹⁴ Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
   and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain-offering and a drink-offering
   for the Lord, your God?

¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion;
   sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
¹⁶   gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
   assemble the aged;
gather the children,
   even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
   and the bride her canopy.

¹⁷ Between the vestibule and the altar
   let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord,
   and do not make your heritage a mockery,
   a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
   “Where is their God?” ’

Matthew 6:  1-4  NRVS

CONCERNING ALMSGIVING

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.         

I.                   INTRODUCTION

The theme I was invited to preach on today, “Out of the Ashes”, led directly to my reflecting on Ash Wednesday texts that I will be using next week.  In preparation for Ash Wednesday and Lent the words of the Heidelberg Catechism and Brief Statement of Faith resonated in my mind:  From the Heidelberg Catechism first question, “I belong—body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but my faithful savior Jesus Christ”—and the first words in the Brief Statement of Faith:  “We Belong to God.”

Throughout the season of Lent the congregation I serve will be sharing some of their fondest stories of faith.  A dominant theme running through these stories:  We Belong to God.

Trusting through the grace of Jesus Christ that “I belong to God”, I risk sharing some of my personal story and the story of the church I have been called to serve – seeking not the “sound of the trumpet of praise” but rather, “sober testament of God’s involvement in our lives.”  First a glimpse into myh personal story: 

II.  THE PHOENIX

I have been going to the same doctor for over 25 years. Dr. Caroline Scott is an active Episcopalian worshipping in a church just a few blocks from Warren Avenue Presbyterian.  When I go in for an office visit, we always spend some time talking about our common interest in doing Christ’s work in downtown Saginaw.     

I am fortunate to have found a doctor who is as passionate about God’s work in the city as in taking care of her patients.

I mention my doctor because her medical practice is appropriately named PHOENIX FAMILY PHYSICIANS.

You will remember the Phoenix is a majestic mythical bird, a fire spirit that can live for 500 to a 1000 years.  Near the end of life the Phoenix builds a nest of twigs that then ignites;  both nest and bird burn and are reduced to ashes, from which a new young Phoenix emerges, reborn, to live again.

My family and friends and church—including many in this presbytery—have helped me rise like a Phoenix from the flames of a heart attack over 23 years ago.  Take note, my young friends, you can have a heart attack at the age of 35.  At the age of fifty I had double knee replacement with a septic infection that took me more weeks to recover than I can remember.  And now my hips are failing me….

The Phoenix rose again just a few years ago when another infection shut down my kidneys…..I escaped meeting St. Peter one more time!   Louise Brokaw was the one who got me to the Emergency Room – the church and presbytery have always had my back!   

Like the Phoenix, I have been given several opportunities to emerge from the ashes.  I’d like to think some good has come from these experiences.  Perhaps some good I can share with you as we prepare for Lent in reflecting on our own personal stories—and relationship with God.

  

For me, I couldn’t avoid sharing my personal story with the congregation.  New doors in relating with congregants with empathy have been opened.  I am reminded each week as I enter worship with two canes or a walker:  together we enter the flames of illness and mental anguish and spiritual despair…..together we can emerge from the ashes to discover again, as Joel says, that the “Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” 

For you, my presbytery friends, may this season of Lent be a time of personal reflection on what it means rise out of the ashes of whatever you may be going through in your lives—surrounded with God’s “abounding and steadfast love.”    

III.  THE CHURCH STORY

Working hard not to boast, the church I serve has an amazing story that needs to be shared—an amazing story of rising from the ashes of significant challenges that have befallen downtown Saginaw throughout the years.

Quite literally the church burned on January 2, 1898.  Ten months later the church emerged from the ashes rebuilt and rededicated under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Joseph Tewell who died a few years later from a heart-attack at a relatively young.

 

Throughout the years the church has had to adapt and change and re-tool how it does ministry as the community around us has changed – growing to 1400 members, now just over 100 active members.  We have had to re-invent ourselves in how we do things—a spiritual island in a city that has been devastated with crime and blight and poverty—always focused on ways we can share God’s “abounding and steadfast love” with others.  And the church is going to keep on going as long as we have resources to be doing Christ’s work.

     

Some our re-tooling has involved discovering we can’t do ministry as a 100 member church all by ourselves.  In recent years we partnered with the East Side Soup Kitchen that used the church to serve the homeless and hungry poor.  The Soup Kitchen eventually moved into a new building called the Hunger Solution Center….and we still enjoy partnering with them whenever we can. 

After two years of intense planning in partnership with Healthy Community Partners, St. Mary’s Hospital, Neighborhood renewal Services and the First Ward Community Center….the church opened its doors rent free to the Mark Neumeyer Cathdral District Youth Center. The late Mark Neumeyer was the man who called up one day and said:  Let’s talk about ways we can partner together in serving  children in the community.  40-50 children now come to this after-school program every day…..and the church doesn’t run the center, The First Ward Community Center that actually runs the program.

Another partner:  The Presbytery, through the use of peacemaking funds has helped the youth center pay their utility bills….on an emergency basis so the center can remain open….while they/we search for new sources of funding to keep the doors open.

My personal thanks to all of our congregations who contribute to Presbyterian Peacemaking! 

IV.  GROUNDING

 

There is one short sentence in the Book of Order, G.3.0400 has been central in our defining our mission:

“The church is called to undertake this mission even at the risk of losing its life, trusting in God alone as the author and giver of life….”

A similar affirmation is found in the NFOG F-1.0301:

“Christ gives to the Church all the gifts necessary to be his body……..a community of faith, entrusting itself to God alone, even at the risk of losing its life.”

V.  CONCLUSION

When I have been ill, there is no denying my fear in not knowing about the future.  The same is true in the church.  In some contexts we fear what is going to happen to us and our churches….the ways we have always done things. 

Likewise, whatever happens in our respective contexts, personally or as a church, there is knowledge that is always going to be with us.  God has our back. 

Let us again, as we enter into Lent, rise from the ashes of change to experience, again:   WE BELONG TO GOD.

Amen