(Homily for Gayton Road Christian Church's Worship on September 17, 2017, Proper 19)
The Story of a People:
Who Are Israel?
The last few weeks, we’ve been in
Egypt. We began with the Hebrew
midwives and Pharaoh’s daughter and the mother and sister of Moses, all of whom
conspired in their own way to serve life instead of death. We followed Moses out into the
wilderness, where he had run away from death and suffering. There he encountered God in the burning
bush, and there he heard the call to return to his fellow Israelites, to share
their suffering and their struggle for life. We followed the Israelites last week as God passed over
Egypt and delivered them from slavery, giving them life. This week, we hear in our Psalm a song
celebrating God’s liberating power, a power so great that the earth trembles with
life before it.
Together these stories tell the
story of life. How life triumphed
over suffering and death. But
these stories are not a universal story (however universal their themes may
be). They’re a particular story
about a particular people.
Who are the people of
Israel? They are the people who
were slaves in Egypt. They are the
people whom God liberated and gave new life.
Who Is Gayton Road?
Over the last year, our Visioning
Team—Mark, Grace and Carol, John, Judy, Virginia, and myself, all of whom
volunteered to explore our church’s sense of call—met together to ask a similar
question: Who is Gayton Road Christian Church? What is our story of life? How is God calling us today?
After months of sharing stories
and exploring experiences, we began to notice a pattern, a trajectory. There was no burning bush or desert
wilderness like in the Israelites’ story, but there were tales of difficulty
and brokenness and liberation and new life. And these tales again and again tread the same three trails,
three trails of liberation where God has met us in our need, and where we
believe the church is called to meet others in their need. From these three trails emerged a sense
of who we are and how we are called.
This finds expression at the bottom of the front of your bulletin:
“Gayton Road feels called to
share the life of faith around tables, in small groups, and with the needful.”
Where Jesus Is:
Around Tables, In Small Groups, With the
Needful
Around tables. In small groups. With the needful.
Is it any wonder that these three
places are where we have found new life amid loss, liberation from the chains
of the past? Is it any coincidence
that these three places are where the world trembles with life? These three places—the table, small
groups, and the needful—are precisely where Jesus promised we would always find
him. “Do this in remembrance of
me,” he said at the table, promising that his memory would always be with us there (cf.
Luke 22:19). “Wherever two or
three are gathered in my name, I am there with them,” he said, promising that
he would always be with us even in the smallest of groups (cf. Matt
18:20). “What you have done for
the least of these, you have done to me,” he said, promising that he would
always be with us in the needful (cf. Matt 25:40).
Where Gayton Road has found life,
is precisely where Jesus said he would be.
All It Needs Is Christ
A couple months ago, I shared
this sense of call with our high school youth and asked them if they had any
ideas about an image to illustrate our calling. Within two crazy hours, we ended up with an image very
similar to the one that’s on your bulletin.
I cannot express how proud I am of our youth and their
design. As you can see, the image
is the Disciples chalice, supplemented by three simple figures: the table, two
people gathered on the right, and a needful person on the left. You’ll notice, too, that the table in
the middle is also the cross, reminding us that the cross and its story of love
and self-giving sits at the heart of our every gathering.
Over the next couple months,
you’ll be seeing this image a lot more.
I invite you to chew on it.
Ruminate over it. Let it
steep in your heart and in your prayers.
In the Eastern Orthodox
tradition, “icons” are an important practice of faith: they are pictures that
serve as windows through which we might catch a glimpse of God. We are not Eastern Orthodox, but
perhaps we might take a page from their book and look upon this image as an
icon. An image cannot capture God,
but a good one can invite us into the mystery of God. Perhaps this is such an image. Because this tells not only the story of who we are and
where we have found life. It also
tells the story of who Christ is and where he finds us.
In today’s world, it’s easy for the church to get lost in a
sea of programming and entertainment and advertisement. It’s easy for the church to confuse
life with bodies in the pew and programs in the bulletin and bucks in the
budget. But as our Visioning Team
discovered, and as our youth so creatively illustrated, the life of the church
is not about power or prestige.
The life of the church is about where we meet Christ and find new life. It’s about where we share that love and
new life with others. The life of
the church doesn’t need any dressing up.
All it needs is a table. Or
a group of two or three people. Or
a person in need. All it needs is
Christ.
Remembering Why We Are Here and Where We Are
Called
For six weeks, from October 1 to
November 5, we will explore in worship our sense of call as a church. We will hear stories from church
members and friends. Some Sundays
we’ll do things a bit differently, devoting our time especially to these three
simple practices: gathering at the table, meeting in small groups, and caring
for the needful. For example, on
October 8, we will not have worship in this sanctuary. Instead, we will gather at the back
picnic shelters in the park, where we will simply eat with one another and with
any friends who join us. On the
one hand, you might ask if this even qualifies as worship. But on the other hand, when you
consider that the table is precisely where Jesus promises he would be, that
this is how he repeatedly describes the kingdom—as a feast!—that this is where
we ourselves have encountered Christ again and again, then you might wonder why
we don’t do this more often!
Similarly, as we gather in small groups and care for the
needful, we will consider how this is
the heart of who we are, this is
where we encounter Christ and find new life, this is where we share that new life. We need not look around and wonder: “Do we need better
programs? Are there enough people
here? How can we become more
attractive?” “Bigger and better”
are not the reasons that we have been drawn to Gayton Road, and they’re not the
reasons that we stay. We are here
because around tables, in little gatherings, and with the needful, we encounter
Christ and we share Christ with others.
Is It Any Surprise?
Who were the people of Israel? They were the people who were slaves in
Egypt. They were the people whom
God liberated and gave new life.
Who is Gayton Road Christian Church? We are the people who have found new
life amid loss, liberation from the chains of our past. We are the people who have encountered
Christ and shared his life around tables, in small gatherings, and with the
needful. And is it any
surprise? This is just where Jesus
promised he would be.
Prayer
Dear Jesus,
We have found you
Right where you said you’d be.
While the world looks for bigger and better,
Help us to feel the kingdom tectonics
Trembling and transforming the earth
Not through might and muscle
But through your love shared
At tables, in little gatherings, and with the needful.
In your name: Amen.
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