It Happened at Church Camp

1 Corinthians 12: 4-13
Roger Lynn

July 28, 2019
(click here for the audio for this sermon)
(click here for the video for this sermon)

It has become a long-standing practice for me that when I spend a week engaged in a particular activity or event (in this case serving as chaplain for 3/4/5 Grade Church Camp) the sermon I preach on the following Sunday is titled “It Happened At…”. I do not write the sermon before I leave for the event, because I do not yet know what I will say. I have to experience it first. This has become for me a spiritual practice – trusting in God’s Spirit that something worthy of sharing in the sermon will occur, and that I will notice. I have yet to be disappointed, and this past week was no exception.

- - - - - - -

I’ve lost track of how many “It Happened at Church Camp” sermons I’ve preached, but it’s a lot. And the truth is that while each one was unique, they have all had a lot in common. Particularly the theme of community - the many becoming one. This year‘s camp began much as other camps before it. The children (14 third, fourth, and fifth graders) arrived with a mixture of enthusiasm and trepidation. And community began to form. The experience can be summed up with the Call to Worship that I created for our evening vesper services. 

We have been through another day,

And God was with us all the way.

We laughed and we learned, 

And God was with us all the way.

We played and we sang, 

And God was with us all the way.

We walked and we rested, 

And God was with us all the way.

We remembered and we forgot, 

And God was with us all the way.

Now we come to the end of the day, 

And God is still with us all the way.

And it was all going as we hoped it would. The children were engaged and responding. The singing was filled with enthusiasm. I taught them “How could anyone ever tell you you are anything less than beautiful?” (by Libby Roderick) and they sang it with heart. I played my flute, and they responded with attentive silence.  We talked about the various ways that God‘s presence shows up in the world and in our lives, and they responded with thoughtful questions, insights and ideas.

It felt, as I said, very similar to lots of other camps I have done, and it was very good. And then things took a sharp left turn and departed from the well-worn path. Early on Tuesday morning I fell and broke my arm, and in that moment my understanding of what it means to be Church together took on a whole new dimension. Suddenly the passage from 1 Corinthians that we just heard read “There are a variety of gifts...” came to life for me in fresh new ways. 

I confess that I am pretty used to being in the role of leader – the one who is up front, the one who is doing the praying, the one who is doing the caring. And now other gifts came rising to the surface. Other people stepped up to take over my responsibilities – using their gifts in their own unique ways. Songs were still being sung with enthusiasm, including ones that I had introduced and were now being led by someone else. Worship moments were still being shared – including some of the ideas I had planned to use and were now being led by someone else.  

I have always believed that Church Camp is simply Church set in a particular time and place. And this was an amazing example of that reality. The community came together – unused gifts had an opportunity to be discovered and put to use. And I had the opportunity to step out of my familiar patterns and spread my wings in new ways as I experienced being on the receiving end of the Church’s gifts.  

The Apostle Paul once wrote that “all things work together for good for those who love God.” I do not for a moment believe that means that God caused or even intended me to break my arm. I was perfectly capable of doing that all on my own. What I believe Paul had in mind is that God is able to bring about amazing and transformative results even out of unfortunate experiences like broken arms. 

The highlight of the camp for me occurred just before I left on Tuesday evening. Right after dinner, and just before I climbed into my car to drive away, the whole camp gathered in a circle and placed me in the center, along with one of the other counselors who also needed to leave early. They surrounded us, laid hands on us, and prayed for us. They sent us off with their blessings for healing and love. In that moment those 14 children, along with the adults who were there to support them, were the Church. Not the Church of the future, but the Church of the present. Their gifts of love and caring and compassion rose to the surface and shone like the sun. As I knelt there in the middle of that powerful circle of Spirit-filled beings I was overwhelmed by the enormity of the gift I was receiving. As the tears stream down my face I was filled with gratitude and a sense of awe. I drove away knowing that I had just experienced something profoundly Sacred. And it continued. I was no longer at the camp, but God was still present, and Spirit was still at work. The Church continues. Thanks be to God.