God Calls Us (Camp Sunday)

1 Samuel 3: 1-10 & Mark 1: 16-20

Roger Lynn

May 29, 2016

Camp Sunday

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

God calls us. In fact, God is always calling us. And sometimes we  pay enough attention to hear the call. Sometimes we even pay enough attention to respond.

But what does a call from God sound like? We have lots of stories in the Bible about folks who heard God calling them. And they all seem to be fairly dramatic and unmistakable. Moses hears God calling from a burning bush. Samuel hears God calling in his sleep. Isaiah has a vision of the heavenly throne room and angels with fiery tongs. Most of us, most of the time, don’t seem to experience God calling us in that sort of way. So does that mean it doesn’t happen? Or does it simply mean we need to turn our attention to less obvious forms of call?

After The Wind & The Fire

Acts 2: 1-4  & Revelation 21: 1-5a

Roger Lynn

May 22, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

God has always been about the business of transforming what is into what can be. From Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush which sent him to Egypt to free a captive people, to the prophets’ sense of God which led them to call for social, political and religious reforms, to Jesus’ radical proclamation of an intimate, all-loving, all-inclusive God, to the writer of Revelation declaring that God makes all things new, the history of human faith development is filled with examples of fresh, new insights and expanding awareness leading to a transformational experience of life.

The writer of the book of Acts seeks to capture one such moment of transformation when he tells the story of the day of Pentecost. Jesus is gone. The disciples have remained a small, closed, frightened community. And suddenly something new breaks into their world. They become aware of God’s Spirit in a powerful new way and that awareness transforms them and the world around them by breaking down the walls and eliminating the fear and the barriers which kept them isolated. The second chapter of Acts is filled with dramatic images which speak to us of change and transformation. There is wind and fire and the cacophony of a variety of languages being spoken at once. Something new is happening and it simply is not possible to continue on in the same old ways. Wind and fire are both powerful forces. They are not completely safe and they are not completely controllable. As images of God’s activity among us they are both disturbing and exciting. Our old, tired routines will not endure. Something dramatic and compelling is emerging.

Pentecost: We’re All In This Together

Acts 2: 1-21

Roger Lynn

May 15, 2016

Pentecost Sunday

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

It’s all very dramatic. If Pentecost were a movie, the special effects team would have to be called in early. There is wind and fire and sound. The casting supervisor would be responsible for finding lots of ‘extras’ to fill the roles of people from all around the then-known world. The costume designer would be busy dressing those extras in the various clothing traditional to their assorted regions. The dialogue coach would be working with everyone so that their accents and dialects were authentic. And then, when the pieces were brought together, it would all be over in a matter of minutes. It is a wonderful, powerful, exciting story, but the outwardly dramatic parts of Pentecost don’t last very long. And that’s OK, because the real heart of things has enough staying power to endure down through the ages.

After the wind and the fire, after people really wake up to the presence of the Spirit in their lives, what emerges as the dominant theme, not just for that moment but for every moment, is the bringing together of that which was separated and the healing of that which was broken. The real story of that first Pentecost is the shattering of the myth of ‘us’ and ‘them.’ When God’s Spirit is allowed to get into the act, the chasm of our differences can be bridged by understanding. Unity is formed not of sameness but of true, deep, intimate sharing.

Just Do It!

John 13: 34-35 & Acts 11: 1-18

Roger Lynn

May 8, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

Over and over again in the Gospels we find Jesus taking the traditional approach to faith and religion and turning it upside down. You can almost hear people asking him, “What are the rules we’re supposed to follow?” They were looking for a convenient check-list, and instead he gives them a new ‘commandment.’ “You want rules,” Jesus seems to be saying. “You want to know what to do. OK, try this. Love one another.” That’s it! It really is as simple, and as challenging, as that. And 2,000 years later, we are still struggling with how to live out the profound implications of those three words. 

Surprises on the Winding Path

Acts 16: 9-15

Roger Lynn

May 1, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

Both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts (written by the same author) have something of a travelogue quality about them. And that is not accidental. The idea of faith as journey is woven into the very fabric of the narrative. We learn something important about what it means to be people of faith when we pay attention to the movement which is described in these writings. In today’s reading from Acts, for example, we find a powerful illustration of what can happen when we stay open to the leading of God’s Spirit. When the journey is the destination, it is not always possible to predict where we’ll end up. It is, therefore, absolutely essential that we pay attention along the way, because there are always surprises just waiting to be discovered.