Davison's Doodle

Preaching on the Fourth of July (weekend)

I may have noted this before. My preaching style requires a lot from the listener. My mother noted after this week’s sermon that “You have a lot of content. I get to thinking, ‘What did he just say?’, but you’ve moved on to something else. I need a minute to absorb it.” Given what is considered excellent or quality preaching these days, my style is teeters on adequate. Rather than provide an answer, my style trusts that listeners will leave the sanctuary with a question or two to ponder. As I’ve honed my craft I’ve tried to use fewer words. I use a manuscript and I stick to it. I’m put time into those words. I don’t read it. I don’t perform it. I do my best to present it.

As an Associate Minister for most of my service, I’ve been assigned the holidays or Sunday after a holiday when the Sr. Minister, (lead minister is in vogue now), was taking time off or didn’t want to preach. One minister I served with always took vacation for the July 4th weekend so they didn’t have to deal with the inevitable critique that there were not enough patriotic songs or hymns in worship. Oddly, this weekend was the first time I preached during the fourth of July weekend. I filled the pulpit for a minster who is taking time off for the first time in a long time. Below is the text of my words. Most of these words were shared. A few were not. I remember a seasoned minister telling me when I joined Regional staff that when you preach, “Don’t assume you have to correct local people because you are on Regional staff. Preach for us. Be humble.” Every time I fill the pulpit I think of Rick and that advice.

The scripture text for the day was Galatians 6. It would help if you read that first. This sermon title is, “A New Creation is Everything!”

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Disciples in Perry, may God’s shalom be with us all.

Have you ever wondered how a minister prepares for the preaching moment? Ministers have their own way of preparing for the sermon that is honed over years of service. In the beginning one might borrow a process as an example. I’ve known ministers ten or more years into ministry that change their process, and sometimes their entire preaching style, for reasons that are not connected to feedback from the pastoral relations committee or comments after worship in the greeting line.

Even those that appear to speak extemporaneously have done some study of the text, thought about the moment in which we are living, and spent time in prayer. Maybe you already know about Joshua’s process, but if not, ask him about his process for creating the preaching moment each week. I call it the preaching moment because just like church camp where everything is part of the curriculum no matter the written small group material, in worship everything, the prayers, hymns, and rituals are part of the sermon.

My process includes study from traditional and non-traditional sources of commentaries, background material, and any textual notes where ancient sources may use different words or add words where others don’t.

I read the text and I read on either side of it, the chapter before and after, listening for context clues that might help discover applicable ideas for our historical context. I think about what is happening around the world, in my community, and in the community where I am preaching that Sunday.

I spend time in silence with the text. Some might call it prayer.
I think about what I would say to children about this text.

I read sermons to see what others have thought was important, odd, enlightening, comforting, or challenging about a text.

I remember that I’m a sibling in faith. I’m that family member that moved away and don’t live with this community day in and day out. You don’t see me that often. I don’t know everything that is happening here or in peoples’ lives in a congregation. So, I choose my words carefully.

I remember that I’m a guest preacher so some may join their minister in taking a Sunday off.

My preaching professor, Rev. Dr. Joey Jeter, would tell students, “Do your best to say a good word for Jesus. Some sermons are going to be harder than others to do that.” Then, I remember that every text is not explicit “good news” nor does it have anything to do with Jesus of Nazareth.

My process distills an idea, a direction from which I’ll create the title thought for the preaching moment. With that and my study notes, I write some words. Here are the title thoughts that I didn’t choose for today:

• Called out by Paul: then and now
• Test your own work and don’t be deceived
• Everything old is new again
• Becoming a new creation over and over again
• Paul’s Pointed Questions for the Church
• How can you be this easily deceived?

I settled on, “a new creation is everything.”

I bear the greetings, prayers, and gratitude of your siblings in faith all around the Region. Thank you for being a voice of gospel from this corner of Perry. Thank you for gifting your minister time away. Thank you for gifting the Region Sara’s time as a camp counselor and camp director. If you are visiting today, in person or in the digital sanctuary, or if you are returning from some time away from worship or religion, come back next week and hear Rev. Joshua preach the good news of God. Don’t just consume worship or religion, get involved in this congregation’s witness of the good news of God and remember:

• that the Lord’s mercies never cease;
• that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning;
• and the Lord’s faithfulness extends beyond our ability to see in a mirror dimly, or recognize the image of God in others as well as in our own face.

Buckle up church, here we go.

A new creation is everything.
When Jesus is too much parable, too radical, or too much son of God, better call Paul.

Some background about Galatians. In the book, Evolution of the Word,(1) Dr. Marcus Borg creates a chronological order of the New Testament. The bible we have begins the New Testament with the gospels. They are three different narratives of the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth, and John, which is a blend of theological handbook for advanced readers and a narrative about Jesus. The gospels were written long after Paul and others began telling their stories about Jesus throughout the Roman empire in Gentile and Jewish communities. In movie terms, the gospels are a prequel, the backstory about Jesus of Nazareth, and the later Pauline writings, those attributed to Paul’s name and style, but are not genuine Paul, those could be thought of as fan fiction. Maybe these are disciples of Paul continuing his work and words after his death.

In Borg’s chronology, 1 Thessalonians opens the New Testament and Galatians follows. The other genuine letters of Paul are: 1 Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, 2 Corinthians, and Romans. All of these are written between 50 and 60 CE. The first gospel, Mark, doesn’t appear until the 70’s.(2)

The Christ-communities(3) that Paul helped organize are primarily in urban centers in the Roman empire and primarily Gentile,that’s all of us, communities. A genuine letter from Paul typically addresses a conflict that he has heard about through letter or word of mouth. It has a structure: opening greeting, admonishing and correcting what ails your community, words of encouragement, and a parting blessing.

It’s not preaching. It is personal. The letters are answers from a mentor who has received a question from people he knows, or at least thought he knew, as they navigate life as a follower of Christ Jesus. Paul’s letters were not meant to end up as scared text for public consumption, but there are some ideas, theology, and questions for all Christ-communities.

As Paul wraps up his pointed letter to the Galatians, he offers Christians several questions for reflection about congregational life and individual freedom. The questions are relevant today. And, they are important for the covenantal relationships of the church in our denomination: congregations, Regions, and the General units of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Right there, near the end of the letter, Paul gives Christ-communities ways to recalibrate our compass for finding our way back to being Christ-like.

How do we bear one another’s burdens?

How often do we test our own work, our theology, politics, financial decisions or practice of Christianity, how often do we test our own work before testing that of others? Before pronouncing others wrong and ourselves, right.

How well do we balance equality, “neither Jew nor Greek,” and the democratic hierarchy of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in our consumer driven society that recognizes freedom of religion and freedom from religion?

Is there anything about our worship, practice of Christianity, discipleship, or theology that mocks God?

How do Christians respond when weariness comes.

Any one of these questions is a sermon in waiting.
Any one of these can help us realize that a new creation is everything.
If you’ve been around Christianity or church for a while you may have even heard a sermon or participated in a sermon on one of these questions.

It is a centuries old argument within Christianity that Paul gives a voice in Galatians: Is it faith or works that brings about salvation? Which is most important or is it some combination of the two? After argument and counter argument, Paul drills down to his thesis and confronts the community.

“For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!” (v.15).

In our context it could sound like this:
Neither independent, republican, democrat, is anything; but a new creation is everything!

And to get closer to Paul’s intent, which will be shocking to our ears, it would sound like this:
Neither American nor non-American is anything; but a new creation is everything!

Christians talk about becoming a new creation in the waters of baptism. We die and rise with Christ. Our old selves end and our new selves begin. Our brand of Christian witness thinks of baptism as an outward sign of an inward decision that a person wants to be a follower of Jesus. I wonder if Paul is saying a new creation is everything because it is something you do rather than something you are. I think Paul would say that over time you can recognize a new creation by the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control a person embodies beyond their safe community and beyond themselves for the good of all. At the end of chapter five he calls them the fruits of the spirit.

That may be too difficult, too confessional, or too subjective. So, we typically focus on the phrase, “you reap what you sow.” But, it is rarely used to instruct. Paul uses it here with a tone of warning, and often the phrase is hurled at someone as a way of saying, “I told you so.” It is used in subtle and overt ways to blame the victim, wrongly or rightly, for the way their life has turned out or for choices that had negative outcomes. Here are two thoughts to consider.

Search your own experience and observations of the world. Is this phrase a universal truth?
Evidence of injustice abounds in the world.

Second, if this phrase holds a universal truth, it is about intent rather than results or consequences for “good or bad” actions. This is where one’s pattern of behavior tells a story more clearly than what they espouse, idea of big government they prefer, the name of the god they worship, team they root for, or person they love. Maybe this is where the phrase, “you reap what you sow” has an instructive value. I often tell children and youth that the hardest thing about being a follower of Jesus is doing what is right just because it is right. Doing what is right is often driven by fear, guilt, or profit motive rather than a response to being in community. It is hard for secular and religious communities alike. It was in Jesus’ time. In Paul’s time and in our time.

A new creation is everything. It reflects and judges itself daily on the two lists:
the fruits of the spirit and these questions in today’s text. It is Paul’s way of saying that followers of Jesus do the things that Jesus did. Remember, that takes risk. Paul has the physical and mental scars to prove it. My guess is that some in this room may have scars as well.

It reminds me of a tale from The Magic Monastery.

I had just one desire—to give myself completely to God. So I headed for the monastery. An old monk asked me, “What is it you want?”
I said, “I just want to give my self to God.”
I expected him to be gentle, fatherly, but he shouted at me, “NOW!” I was stunned. He shouted again, “NOW!” Then he reached for a club and came after me. I turned and ran. He kept coming after me, brandishing his club and shouting, “NOW, NOW.”
That was years ago. He still follows me, wherever I go. Always that stick.
Always that “NOW.”(4)

A new creation is everything!

When weariness comes, and it will, weariness takes many forms.
It can be physical.
It can be emotional.
It can be spiritual.
It can isolate and radicalize.

Weariness can create dark night of the soul moments for individuals and for communities. When weariness comes, and it will, it’s vital that we not accept the easy answer, the temptation, or the deception. Instead, remember the first time God was real in your life. Soak up presence and that grace in that memory. And, remember to love your neighbor as yourself.

A new creation is everything. When I think about that I remember the lyrics to an old, old camp song we sang in the 1970’s and 1980’s: “We Are a Rainbow.”

There are many colors in a rainbow
all bound together as one.
They are a promise of tomorrow,
a hope for all days to come.
We are all children of that promise,
made for the whole world around.
Wherever love brings us together,
a rainbow can be found.

We are a rainbow,
together we are a sign,
We are a rainbow
to live for human kind.
We are a rainbow,
it’s time for us to shine.
We are a rainbow.(5)

Disciples, siblings in faith in Perry, there is ministry to do and gospel to be that only you can do and only you can be in this corner of Oklahoma. May the grace and faith of Jesus, whom we call Christ, be with your spirit. A new creation is everything! You are a new creation. Go be it.

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Notes
1. Borg, Marcus, Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written. Harper One (New York) 2012.

2. Ibid, p 31-32.

3. Marcus Borg’s description for what we call “churches” in Paul’s time. From, Evolution of the Word.

4. Theophane the Monk, Tales of a Magic Monastery. Crossroads (New York) 1994, p. 50.

5. Holmes, Brent. Songs, “We Are A Rainbow.” Sons and Creations Inc. (San Anselmo) 1972, p 166.