Below you will find the transcript to this past week's sermon, the YouTube link and the Soundcloud audio link.
I did something different this past week. I had some thoughts on my heart that I wanted to share with the faith community, but it didn't feel appropriate to share during the sermon. Therefore, I took about 4 minutes and sat on a stool prior to the sermon portion and shared. That's not in the audio link or in the transcript. It is only in the service.
As pandemic days continue and we aren't physically open yet for worship, it is an ongoing challenge to connect with folks. That responsibility belongs to all of us and I know that. Yet, I feel the burden. Then, we add the burden of sermons and services, mission and ministry, looking for ways to creatively hold outdoor worship, etc. And, then it's that time of year again when we get to fill out all kinds of paperwork for Charge Conferences. I'm not sure where the time and energy for that will come, in honesty. Yet, it is work that must be done. It is part of the overall picture of mission and ministry, I know.
May there be something in this week's message that encourages you, challenges you, refills and energizes you.
Peace on your journey,
Rev. Deb
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Life Instructions”
Romans 12:9-21 (CEB)
August 30, 2020 (13th Sunday after Pentecost)
St. Elmo UMC (FB Live)
Romans 12:9-21 (CEB)
9 Love should be shown
without pretending. Hate evil, and hold on to what is good. 10 Love
each other like the members of your family. Be the best at showing honor to
each other. 11 Don’t
hesitate to be enthusiastic—be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord! 12 Be happy in your hope, stand your ground
when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of God’s people,
and welcome strangers into your home. 14 Bless
people who harass you—bless and don’t curse them. 15 Be
happy with those who are happy, and cry with those who are crying. 16 Consider everyone as equal, and don’t
think that you’re better than anyone else. Instead, associate with people who
have no status. Don’t think that you’re so smart. 17 Don’t
pay back anyone for their evil actions with evil actions, but show respect for
what everyone else believes is good.
18 If possible, to the best
of your ability, live at peace with all people. 19 Don’t
try to get revenge for yourselves, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s
wrath. It is written, Revenge belongs to me; I will pay it back, says
the Lord. 20 Instead, If
your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. By doing
this, you will pile burning coals of fire upon his head. 21 Don’t be defeated by evil, but defeat evil
with good.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS IS THE WORD OF LIFE FOR GOD’S PEOPLE.
THANKS
BE TO GOD.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today’s passage begins where last week’s ended. We had learned about the spiritual gifts and how they are to be used for the one body.
As we look at today’s passage, we could get buried quickly in the LONG list of life instructions that we find here.
Life instructions.
How many are there in this passage? According to my research there are 23 imperatives (commands, mandates)
here. That’s a long list of do’s and do
not’s.
How do we approach this passage?
We can approach it in the context of our one body living in unity with one another. As we do that, let’s see what we can take away from today’s passage.
As we approach it this way, we can also read it prayerfully, using the lectio divina method that we’ve talked about in the past. Remember this method, “sacred reading” is a slower method of reading meant for the Scriptures to read us rather than us reading the Scriptures. As we slow down for contemplation and meditation, we are more able to listen and therefore, open to transformation.
Using four R’s, we can approach the passage this way with lectio divina: read, reflect, rest, respond.
As you listened to the passage, which of the life instructions caught your attention? Which of them speaks to you?
Allow yourself to think back for a moment. Which of the life instructions can you relate to from a time in the past? Do any of the life instructions that you hear today give you a cause for a pause? As in, you are glad you responded in the way you did in a situation because now you are better and healthier for it?!?!
Last week we ended the service with the Mark Miller song, “Draw the Circle Wide”. As I read through this passage, I couldn’t help but think of that song. We are to love each other and consider everyone as equal (verses 10 and 16). Verse 18 encourages us to live at peace with all people.
As a reminder, here are some of the lyrics:
Draw the circle, draw the circle wide. Draw the
circle, draw the circle wide. No
one stands alone, we’ll stand side by side. Draw the
circle, draw the circle wide.
(repeat)
Draw the circle wide, draw it wider still. Let this
be our song: no one stands
alone. Standing side by side, draw the circle, draw
the circle wide.
(repeat)
Draw the circle, draw the circle wide. Draw the
circle, draw the circle wide. No
one stands alone, we’ll stand side by side. Draw the circle, draw the circle wide.
Draw the circle wide, draw it wider still. Let this
be our song: no one stands
alone. Standing side by side, draw the circle, draw the circle wide.
Draw the circle, draw the circle wide. Draw the circle, draw the circle wide.
What will it take for us to make sure that no one stands alone, that we continue to open the circle wide? In order to live these imperatives that we hear today, it’s costly discipleship. It costs us as we surrender ourselves, as we make self sacrifices in order to live as Christ teaches.
It’s also counter cultural. But think back to how Jesus did things. Wasn’t Jesus fairly counter cultural? Wasn’t his way of doing things fairly costly?
As we reflect on the guidance offered today to help us live a life of discipleship, hear some of these imperatives again.
As you hear this list of guidance, life instructions, see which one stands out to you today. Write it down. Follow through with an appropriate action step.
15/23
Love one another
Show honor
Be ardent in spirit
Serve the Lord
Be patient in suffering
Persevere in prayer
Contribute to the needs of the saints
Extend hospitality to strangers
Bless those who persecute you
Rejoice with those who rejoice
Weep with those who weep
Live in harmony with one another
Feed your enemies
Give them drink if they thirst
Overcome evil with good
Another way to look at this passage is to go back to verse 9 and to see everything through a filter of love, similar to 1 Corinthians 13. Everything in this passage can flow from what love is to be or not to be. We know that God is love (1 John 4:8-- The person who doesn't love does not know God, because God is love) and our challenge is to live and love as God loves us.
As we seek to be disciples of Christ who make disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world, may we live into the counter cultural way of being a Christ follower, seeking to love God and love others as ourselves.
May we be light and love, living out the life instructions given us.
Amen.
------------------------------
I shared a prayer by Steve Garnaas-Holmes as I closed:
Praying Romans 12.9-21
God, may my love be genuine.
May I let go what is evil in me,
and open myself to what is good.
By your Spirit in me May I truly love others:
not just to tolerate them but to honor them.
Give me your zeal, your energy, the true desire to serve you.
Give me the faith to rejoice with hope,
to be patient in suffering, and to persevere in prayer.
Help me take the opportunities I will have today
to contribute to the needs of those around me...
to extend hospitality to strangers...
to bless those who oppose me— to bless and not to curse them.
I am mindful of those who rejoice, and I rejoice with them.
I am mindful of those who weep, and I weep with them.
May I be present for them today.
Give me your grace to live this day in harmony with others.
I do not need to pretend that I am wiser than I am.
Help me not to be haughty
but to know that the lowly are my peers.
Give me grace to not repay evil for evil,
but to focus on what is good for the sake of all.
Give me grace to live peaceably with all.
Give me your grace to feed the hungry even if they oppose me,
to give drink to the thirsty even if I do not like them.
I pray that I will not be overcome by evil,
but that I may overcome evil with good,
by the grace of your love in me.
Amen
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
------------------------------------------------------
YouTube Service
No comments:
Post a Comment