Westminster Congregational United Church of Christ

Sermon for July 5, 2009

Yes, WE are sent with power

Pastor Marj Johnston

Mark 6:1-13 (New Revised Standard)

¹He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. ²On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! ³Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. ⁴Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” ⁵And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. ⁶And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then he went about among the villages teaching. ⁷He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; ⁹but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. ¹⁰He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. ¹¹If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” ¹²So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. ¹³They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

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A week and a half ago I left Spokane on a flight headed to Grand Rapids, Michigan to serve as a delegate for the Pacific Northwest Conference at the 27^th General Synod of the United Church of Christ.  I was one of nearly 100 delegates in a crowd of some 3700 people registered to participate.  As a delegate, I carried a voice and vote in the processing of 29 resolutions that will guide and shape our collective work as members and congregations of the United Church of Christ.

Before arriving I knew the theme was “Immerse Yourself,” and I stand before you this morning more immersed than ever in the UCC.  The obvious “immersion” is in my new “God is still speaking,” t-shirt, a ball cap I can’t bring myself to wear in church, a new pendant bearing the symbol of the United Church of Christ, comma earrings I received on my ordination, and a new stole with the symbol of the UCC woven into it.  I have been immersed in the United Church of Christ….

Throughout the week I had wonderful conversations with seminary colleagues who now serve as pastors, chaplains, administrative staff at seminaries, an interim camp director for another outdoor ministry, and as a teacher in a Christian college.  I saw old friends from other paths who have also found their way to ministry and life within the UCC.   Some of you remember Ryan Gackenheimer who took early steps to answer a call to ministry while here at Westminster; he now serves in Vermont and sends greetings.  Gail Wells who with her husband and co-pastor Stuart served as your interim eight years ago sends her best wishes. 

In my office is a fairly small and tidy collection of paperwork from the plenary sessions of the week along with brochures about programs and ministry opportunities that I’ll be working with over the next several weeks as I continue to open my mind, my heart and my soul to the still-speaking God in my own life while I serve you and our neighbors. 

Each delegate was assigned to a committee, and each committee was charged with review and work around at least one of the proposed resolutions.  The committee on which I served focused on two resolutions.  A resolution was passed requesting the Justice and Witness Ministries of the UCC to take the lead in continuing a program of Sacred Conversations on Race, providing resources and support to local pastors and congregations, associations and conferences to “establish, promote and encourage” these conversations as we further understand what it means to create welcome for all.

The second resolution we presented urges local pastors and congregations, associations and conferences to assist public schools in their efforts to develop diversity education programs that help to keep all children safe—children of all races, ethnic origins, genders, faiths, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities, socio-economic classes, countries of origin and their families.  The intention is that bullying of any child is never acceptable, and that if our schools are to work toward creating safe learning centers for all, we as people of faith can take some responsibility in making sure that ALL children are represented.  This particular resolution came from the folks in California where two pastors have stepped into their school districts and have been threatened with legal action or pressure from legal groups because they have shared information and resources that would offer support and equal access for children of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered families.

Among the other issues were affirmations of our collective work in global ministries; making health care accessible and affordable for all; to work harder to reduce our impact on the earth’s resources, including food and water consumption and production of goods that that will cause less harm to the earth as well as to its human and other life inhabitants.  There were very difficult conversations around the idea of restructuring the current governance of the denomination keeping in mind the economic, logistical and theological problems as well as justice concerns by local churches, associations, conferences, and historically under-represented groups of people who comprise the United Church of Christ on the whole.  We elected a new General Minister and President, affirmed the ongoing service of others, and celebrated being immersed in the life of faith with one another and with our individual faith communities.  We heard lively music and challenging preaching.  We shared in communion.  If you have access to the internet, I encourage you to go to the UCC website and read in more detail about those five days.  And then pray about how you can be immersed in your faith journey as a part of this local congregation and the United Church of Christ where we share experiences in hopes of hearing the still-speaking God here.

In the midst of being in a town I didn’t know with hundreds of people I didn’t know, it had a sort of “at home” feeling.  The locals knew by our identification badges that we were part of the one of the largest groups convening in recent years and were patient with us as we wandered their fair city.  It wasn’t home, but it was familiar because of our common work, and I imagine I felt more welcome in Grand Rapids than Jesus felt in his home town … according to this morning’s text, Jesus returned to him hometown and didn’t feel welcome at all.

The first part of the story is Jesus returning to his hometown and bringing his disciples with him.  Like so many of us, Jesus grew up with his parents and family—he has brothers and sisters—and left at a certain point to move on with his life.  Now he returns to his home, and the scripture doesn’t say why.  I imagine that community members, extended family, and the neighbors whispered, “Isn’t that Joseph and Mary’s boy?  Just who does he think he is coming home and bringing those friends of his with their healing and preaching?  He’s a carpenter and he should have stayed and worked with Joseph and learned his trade well.” 

The story gives us reason to believe that Jesus acted cautiously and with reserve, touching and healing a few people, perhaps those who quietly hoped he was more than the carpenter they remembered.  I can imagine the disappointment Jesus felt, knowing that they remembered him but couldn’t see him as a grown up doing God’s work through healing and teaching.  Sometimes it can be difficult to go home, to those places with which we are most familiar.

Then Mark explains that Jesus moved on, that Jesus and his followers went to other villages to do their work.  Two by two Jesus sent them out to do their work together, with nothing but their walking sticks.  And with a perhaps new sense of urgency of the work they were doing to share the good news of God’s love for all, Jesus told them not to waste time trying to convince those they met.  If they found themselves unwelcome at any point, if the people gathered started arguing and couldn’t hear or reason through the teachings, then the disciples had permission to move on, teaching and healing where they would be welcome and received.

On another Sunday this passage of scripture would take on a whole other series of thoughts.  So much of my faith and life journeys have been shaped by the concepts of mission and evangelism that I learned in my Baptist faith traditions.  Through the years there have been more lessons about both mission and evangelism, and the concepts of doing deeds as mission and sharing words as evangelism have morphed with the contexts in which I have lived, worked and worshiped.

Are you nervous now?  There is anxiety about the words mission and evangelism.  We have grown wary of talking about what we do believe about God and the teachings of Jesus because we know there are people who are uncomfortable with talking about it.  And we can so much more easily live out what we read and hear in scripture by what we do in our community.

Most of us have known others who have been or who are coercive or manipulative with their words about faith, about how we must be saved, about how if we don’t do certain things or follow certain rules we’re certainly not going to get into heaven.  Some of those experiences are at the core of why we’ve left other faith communities and what we keep in the back of our minds every time we come to church:  “If Pastor Marj says that I have to do or say or repeat one thing that is remotely similar to what I’ve experienced before, I’m so done with church.”

So here’s where I am.  I know that talking about God can be uncomfortable and it can make us anxious.  Sometimes it makes ME anxious, and there are assumptions that this is what I do for a living so it certainly must come easy.  Not always.  It’s sometimes easier to talk about any number of things to avoid talking about God.  As some of you have pointed out in recent months, it seems easier to talk about what we DON’T believe or think than it is to share what we DO believe and think.

So here’s this morning’s story—good timing in my own life, actually—reminding me and reminding us that in spite of anxiety or embarrassment or even rejection for talking about Jesus and God with the words I know, it is part of what I must do.  And not just as a pastor, either.

This is a prime story for us.  We who gather at Westminster are so good at doing so many things in the community and for the greater good.  And we’re often not afraid to talk about those activities.  There is integrity in being able to talk about what we believe, about the values we share, about what it is that makes us know that what we do makes a difference.  It’s important to talk about what we think and believe not to get other people to join us or to grow the church as much as it is to share that there is a God who is very much present with us and through what we do.  That what we do is because of what we think we understand God to say when we read the words of Jesus who recited the Hebrew law:  “Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and love your neighbors as yourself.”

The nice thing about who we are, about who we are becoming as individuals on our own faith journeys is that your journey here at Westminster intersects with mine and with the journeys of others, and together our faith journeys intersect with others in the community at large.  And I’m here to share that there are thousands of others like us around the country in the United Church of Christ who are trying to put into action and words just what it means to say that there is a God who is at work among us, inviting us to draw near, to immerse ourselves in faith and hope, to change the world by becoming all of who we are meant to be, created in the image of the God who loves us, the Jesus who reconciles us and in the strength of the Spirit who sustains us every step of the way.

We are called to go – in twos if we can or need to – and to make a difference.  We don’t need to take much with us.  We have stories to tell of how it is we’ve seen God at work, how we know that God is present to us, how we know God meets us where we are … we each can come up with at least one story about why we know that this statement is true:  No matter who you are or where you are in your life and faith journey, you are welcome here. 

God’s Spirit sends us where we are needed, and we become teachers and healers in the villages where we travel … sometimes even in our hometowns.  Imagine the opportunities before us to do this work, to carry on in word and deed what it means to hear the still-speaking God.  Those of us who represented the United Church of Christ in Michigan weren’t needed in Michigan—not all of us.  We are needed and have been sent back into our communities to share the good news that YOU are needed and together we have much work to do.  Our work is to love the world and the people in it in every way possible, in the words of the prophet Micah—to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.  Amen.