Each week my goal is to listen, to read, to pray, and to be open to the message I am feeling led to offer. Every week my husband reads the message I have written and offers feedback. This one, he said, was one of the best. That made me nervous. I had to remember that it wasn't about me, that I still needed to empty me of me and to be available to the moving of the Holy Spirit. Every time that we gather to record, we pray. It's usually about the same-- gratitude for all that have participated with their gifts, for the Creator to meet us all where we are in the moment and when the sermon goes live, for the Holy Spirit to flow. Things to that effect.
We recorded early last week so that some of the team could have some time apart, a Sabbath rest. It was a miracle for me to have the sermon ready to go by that time in the week. I had some things on my mind that day, but had been able to spend about an hour in worship, listening to Petra and Harvest songs prior to the recording.
Things went well in the recording. I got close to being emotional a couple of times as I spoke about my cornerstone in preaching from 1989 and when I shared the lyrics from "I am Available" by Petra. When it came to the final song, "Here I Am to Worship", I used the time to just be and to praise for a moment. That is, until I felt led to turn and kneel at the altar. From that moment, I felt overcome with emotion, unlike I have been in a very long time. Was it the openness of the sermon and the connection to the past? Was it the ongoing life circumstances? Was it the empty sanctuary once again and a shepherd's longing heart for the sheep? Was it a response to the worship song, recognizing that I am here to worship? I think it was a combination of all of the above, though I didn't really think it through at the time. I simply allowed it. I experienced it. I yielded and submitted to the Master Builder, as the sermon had said.
Afterwards, I just sat on the stool for a moment. It was a "wow" moment for me. Humbling. I was empty, yet full.
As the sermon was shared on Sunday, there were parts in it that folks wanted to discuss further, so we held a zoom follow-up discussion on Sunday evening with others facilitating and me just showing up. That was a very enriching time for me.
A few days later, a friend posted some thoughts from a sermon she had watched.
I continue to be humbled, encouraged, and amazed that the Master Builder continues to work in and through me.
Maybe there is something in the sermon, the service, the Petra song, my friend's reflection for you....
Peace,
Rev. Deb
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Sermon from YouTube:
Posted by Heather Clements on FB, in response to the sermon, on May 12: (shared with permission)
"During this time of social isolation, I was attending a virtual church service. The preacher was talking about us being 'living stones", how we're being shaped into a dwelling place for God. That got me thinking about a couple of things. One, that there are many types of dwellings in all shapes and sizes, from huge mansions to tiny houses. There's even one in my town shaped like a UFO! No matter how big or small or strangely shaped, what makes these houses into homes is who lives there. Proverbs 17:1 says "Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife." So better a peaceful shack than a mansion full of fighting, to paraphrase.Jesus is the Prince of Peace. When God dwells in us, our spiritual house is full of peace, and a good place to be. Whether you feel like a mansion on a hill or a two room shack in a holler, if God is in the dwelling, it's home.
Two, with the exception of a cave, most houses are built of many stones (or lumber or bricks or all of the above) put together. The church is called the House of God, and can be thought of in this way. After all, the church is not a building, but the people who gather to worship. If we as individuals are rocks (or lumber etc) it takes all of us coming together to create a structure. In that structure, there are many different building materials, serving different functions. Some are foundations, some provide protection from the elements as walls or a roof, some uphold those who walk as floors do, some bring in fresh air or water, some take away that which has become toxic. Each part has been molded and/or cut, and fitted to fill it's place. All of them are necessary, a building without any one of them would be a difficult place to live. The thing that binds it all together is the Holy Spirit, functioning as mortar. Trust Jesus, who better to build a building than a carpenter, and he's got the nails!
Third, a rock in it's natural state is a rough, dull, unlovely thing. Some are created by fire (igneous), some by layering of millennia of accumulation of dirt (sedimentary), and some by pressure that transforms from one substance to another (metamorphic). If you put one of any of these into a rock tumbler, with the right grit of polishing material, the end result is something lovely and shining. All of the corners and hard edges rounded, and the rough surfaces are ground smooth by the grit. An uncomfortable, even painful process for the the rock, I'm sure (if rocks could feel, that is!) As human "stones" we also experience uncomfortable, even painful things. These experiences, however, grind off some of our rough edges, and polish our surfaces until we shine like jewels in His hands."
Links:
What the Bible Says about Living Stones
Soundcloud link to sermon only
Ken Kovacs blog on Living Stones
Petra: "I am Available"
"Built Like Living Stones”
1 Peter 2:2-10 (CEB)
May 10, 2020 (5th Sunday of Easter, Mother’s Day)
St. Elmo UMC (FB Live)
1 Peter 2:2-10 (CEB)
2 Instead, like a newborn
baby, desire the pure milk of the word. Nourished by it, you will grow into
salvation, 3 since you have tasted that the Lord is
good.
4 Now you are coming to him
as to a living stone. Even though this stone was rejected by humans, from God’s
perspective it is chosen, valuable. 5 You yourselves are
being built like living stones into a spiritual temple. You are being made into
a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ. 6 Thus
it is written in scripture, Look! I am laying a cornerstone in Zion,
chosen, valuable. The person who believes in him will never be shamed.7 So
God honors you who believe. For those who refuse to believe, though, the stone
the builders tossed aside has become the capstone. 8 This is a stone that makes people stumble
and a rock that makes them fall. Because they refuse to believe in the word,
they stumble. Indeed, this is the end to which they were appointed. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people who are God’s own possession. You have
become this people so that you may speak of the wonderful acts of the one who
called you out of darkness into his amazing light. 10 Once you weren’t a people, but now you are
God’s people. Once you hadn’t received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
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THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF
GOD.
THANKS
BE TO GOD.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today is the 5th Sunday of Easter. We are now closer to the ending of Eastertide
than the beginning. Have you noticed
that I removed the Easter lilies from the altar? That’s because the blooms began to fade and
droop and no amount of water or sun will bring them back. However, they will be planted into the ground
so that they can make their return next year.
Did you notice the cornerstone in the sermon
slide? It says, “St. Elmo ME Church
South, 1921”. That’s the cornerstone on
the front of the church building, on the front left.
What does the ME stand for? Methodist Episcopal. It is part of our Methodist history prior to
becoming the United Methodist Church.
The Methodist Episcopal South church was formed in 1844. In 1939 the
different branches united to become the United Methodist Church.
What is the significance of a CORNERSTONE? A cornerstone is a foundational stone that
connects the two sides and typically shows the year it was built or
established.
As you could see in the photo, this building was
dedicated on August 7, 1921.
For more history on the beginnings of this church, I
suggest you connect with Ray Warren, our historian. He has lots of great history on this church.
The cornerstone in verse 6 in today’s passage is a
quote of Isaiah 28:16 and refers to a different cornerstone—“Therefore, the Lord God says: Look! I’m laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a valuable
cornerstone, a
sure foundation: the
one who trusts won’t tremble.”
Today’s title comes from verse 5: “You yourselves
are being built like living stones into a spiritual temple.” The word “stone” is found 5 times in the
passage. Rock, once. Capstone, once. Cornerstone, once. That’s quite a bit of stones and rocks.
I like rocks.
I find heart rocks out in nature, some are big; some are little. Some are scraggly shaped; others are
typically shaped. But they are still
rocks and they still look like hearts.
Rocks and stones are solid, yet are shaped by their
environment--by the wind, by the water, by other stones and rocks, and by the
dirt or sand. Think about the rocks and
stones in a river that have been smoothed over many years of water flow. That’s a brief geology lesson, but it helps
us as we think of ourselves as living stones.
YOU are being built like living stones into a
spiritual temple. This may be the church
building, but YOU are the church. You
are a spiritual temple.
Take a moment and let that sink in, if you haven’t
ever before. You are being built like
living stones into a spiritual temple.
You are the church. Now, when I say
“you”, are you hearing a plural “you” or a singular “you”? Either one is the truth. Each and every singular “you” church makes up
the plural “you” church. So, just in
case someone listening is thinking that this message isn’t meant for you, then
hear it put this way: “I am being built
like living stones into a spiritual temple.
I am the church.” How did hearing
it that way change things for you?
One more thing before moving on. After saying “I”, insert your first
name. Ready? All you have to do is say your name. I will say the rest. Ready?
“I, ________________, am being built like living
stones into a spiritual temple. I am the
church.”
Okay. How was
that? Was that any different from the
“you’? or even the “I” without your
name? [Pause] Something to think about it. Something to repeat.
Notice the tense being used: “being built”. That is an ongoing tense and it implies that
someone is doing the building. You are
not the initiator of the activity, but rather the receptor of it. The building is being done on you, to
you. Basically, you let yourself be
built. That is the essence here.
As you take a moment and reflect on that, have you
experienced “being built” in these past 5 weeks of Easter plus Palm
Sunday? During this time of time apart,
what type of transformation have you experienced? I’ve shared some of mine the past couple of
weeks. I’ve been in the cocoon. I’ve come out of it. I’ve experienced the “being built” and
transformation. As a living stone,
sometimes “being built” means that the edges need to be rounded off or parts of
the stone needed to be chipped away in order to fit into a certain space,
etc. As I’ve experienced “being built”,
it has been about letting go and letting myself be transformed into a spiritual
house by the living Christ.
It dawned on me this week that as I’ve been being
built as a living stone, my “building” goes way back. One of the stone markers in my life is Christ
Church United Methodist in Port Jefferson Station on Long Island. I guess you might even call it a cornerstone,
in that I preached my first sermon there in 1989 the Sunday prior to me coming
back south to teach at Bryan College.
When I was asked to do pulpit supply for my pastor who was going to be
on vacation that Sunday, I didn’t know at the time we would be leaving Long
Island at the end of the summer to head back south. All I knew was that I had been asked to
preach as a Lay Speaker and I said yes.
The title of my first sermon?
“Are You Available?” I included
lyrics to the Petra song with the same title.
As a living stone being built by the Creator, Christ Church United
Methodist in Port Jefferson Station, Pastor Randy Paige, his wife Leslie and
many others there played a role in this stone coming back to life.
Ken Kovacs, a pastor in FL, writes this about living
stones in a blog from 2015: “Living stones: flesh and blood and spirit, being
used by God, for God’s glory. That’s who
we are. God is trying to build something
with us and we are asked to submit, to yield, allow ourselves to be used for
the sake of God’s glory, so that we can be added, stone by stone, to what God
is trying to build in the world today.
Not a physical temple, but a spiritual temple, a community of people.”
“God
is trying to build something with us.”
“We are asked to submit, to yield, allow ourselves to be used for the
sake of God’s glory, so that we can be added stone by stone…. A community of
people.”
Wow.
How
much easier is it for you, for me, for us to see and to hear this when we are
NOT inside a church building? When we
are taken out of the building and we are reminded that WE are the church, that
God wants to build US…. So that we are prepared to be the community for one
another.
If,
during this time of being out of the church building, we have come to see
ourselves as living stones built by God, chosen, cherished, beloved, through
whom God works and moves, then that is one of MANY positives from this time
apart.
You
see, time apart is needed for us to rest and grow. The land needs a time of fallow. We are created to have a Sabbath rest. By taking a time apart from the church
building, maybe, just maybe, our significance as living stones being built by
God can take on new meaning for us.
Something to think about, wouldn’t you say?
Ken
Kovacs also writes in his 2015 post to remind us that God dwelled in temples,
such as the one in Jerusalem and then chose to dwell in a human temple, Jesus
Christ. What he writes next tends to be
difficult for many, but hear these words: “And we discover that God is still
doing something similar in us. We
discover that God really wants to dwell in
our hearts and minds and bodies and spirits. We realize that we are the dwelling place of
the Most High. We are being formed and
reformed into the dwelling place of God.”
He
continues to remind us (paraphrased) that every one of us need to remember who
we are, whose we are, what we are, and what it is we are called to do. Quote: “God is trying to build something good
and beautiful and redemptive and holy with
us. God is building something good
and beautiful and redemptive and holy through
us. God is building something good and
beautiful and holy for us…”
How
cool is that? God builds with us,
through us, and for us.
As
living stones being built by God, we have a place in this building
process. We are to yield to the process,
to submit, to allow the Master Builder to shape us, form us and place us where
we are needed.
The
yielding isn’t easy. The shaping and
forming isn’t either. Being placed where
we are needed…. Have you heard the expressing trying to fit a square peg into a
round hole?!?! That’s how I feel sometimes
when the fitting process is happening. I
question what the Builder is doing if it doesn’t seem right to me. I am learning to trust the Builder. The Builder knows me best.
Heck,
if I preached my first sermon in 1989, asking “Are You Available?” don’t you
think that could have been a clue?
We
often don’t see the pattern clearly as the stones are laid, one by one. But as we look back, we can see how the
Builder has laid the stones in our lives, how they fit together, how we have
been built as living stones.
Church, you ARE chosen and valuable
living stones. God is working in and
through you and me to build something beautiful. God is bringing healing into our lives.
May we yield to the Builder’s hands,
allowing God to form us, transform us, mold us, and place us. May we recognize our place as God’s people,
who have received mercy, a chosen and royal priesthood. May we shine the love and light of Christ
through our life’s experiences, because of God’s grace.
Will you pray with me? (Spirit of the
Living God)
Sermon from YouTube:
Posted by Heather Clements on FB, in response to the sermon, on May 12: (shared with permission)
"During this time of social isolation, I was attending a virtual church service. The preacher was talking about us being 'living stones", how we're being shaped into a dwelling place for God. That got me thinking about a couple of things. One, that there are many types of dwellings in all shapes and sizes, from huge mansions to tiny houses. There's even one in my town shaped like a UFO! No matter how big or small or strangely shaped, what makes these houses into homes is who lives there. Proverbs 17:1 says "Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife." So better a peaceful shack than a mansion full of fighting, to paraphrase.Jesus is the Prince of Peace. When God dwells in us, our spiritual house is full of peace, and a good place to be. Whether you feel like a mansion on a hill or a two room shack in a holler, if God is in the dwelling, it's home.
Two, with the exception of a cave, most houses are built of many stones (or lumber or bricks or all of the above) put together. The church is called the House of God, and can be thought of in this way. After all, the church is not a building, but the people who gather to worship. If we as individuals are rocks (or lumber etc) it takes all of us coming together to create a structure. In that structure, there are many different building materials, serving different functions. Some are foundations, some provide protection from the elements as walls or a roof, some uphold those who walk as floors do, some bring in fresh air or water, some take away that which has become toxic. Each part has been molded and/or cut, and fitted to fill it's place. All of them are necessary, a building without any one of them would be a difficult place to live. The thing that binds it all together is the Holy Spirit, functioning as mortar. Trust Jesus, who better to build a building than a carpenter, and he's got the nails!
Third, a rock in it's natural state is a rough, dull, unlovely thing. Some are created by fire (igneous), some by layering of millennia of accumulation of dirt (sedimentary), and some by pressure that transforms from one substance to another (metamorphic). If you put one of any of these into a rock tumbler, with the right grit of polishing material, the end result is something lovely and shining. All of the corners and hard edges rounded, and the rough surfaces are ground smooth by the grit. An uncomfortable, even painful process for the the rock, I'm sure (if rocks could feel, that is!) As human "stones" we also experience uncomfortable, even painful things. These experiences, however, grind off some of our rough edges, and polish our surfaces until we shine like jewels in His hands."
Links:
What the Bible Says about Living Stones
Soundcloud link to sermon only
Ken Kovacs blog on Living Stones
Petra: "I am Available"
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