Revelation 21: 1-5
Roger Lynn
May 10, 2020
(CLICK HERE for the audio for this sermon)
(CLICK HERE for the video for this sermon)
(CLICK HERE to view the entire worship service video)
The process of “re-opening” has begun. There are phases and stages and metrics by which to gauge the progress. There are conversations about safety, and the economy, and getting back to “normal.” But we are the Church, and for us it is never about getting back to “normal.” “Cast your nets on the other side of the boat,” Jesus told Peter and James and John when he first called them to a new life. And a new life in a new day is what we are always being called to. We are an Easter people and resurrection is at the heart of what God is always and forever doing in the midst of us. In John’s Revelation, it ends with a bold vision of a new heaven and a new earth. “And behold, I make ALL things new!” declares God. When a butterfly emerges from the cocoon, it isn’t simply a caterpillar with wings attached. The caterpillar which enters the cocoon must dissolve in order for something wholly new to emerge at the other end of the process. So, as we in the church prepare to re-emerge into the world, may we do so with the awareness that God is preparing us and calling us to become something wholly and holy new.
David Wilcox once wrote a song he called “Farthest Shore.” In that song he imagined this process of transformation.
We were there in the woods by the water
We left our packs up against that willow tree
We dove right in, keeping just what we were born with
Our Memories, our knowledge, and our dreams
As I swam away from our possessions
I imagined that they were gone forever more
And for once I was glad that all I treasured
Would still be with me when I reached the other shore
So...Let me dive into the water
Leave behind all that I've worked for
Except what I remember and believe
And when I stand on the farthest shore
I will have all I need
What will we leave behind? What will we carry with us? As we prepare to emerge from this Covid-19 quarantine shut-down cocoon, I want to spend a few minutes dreaming about what the new Plymouth might look like in God’s new day that is dawning. Who will we be? What will we value? What will we do? I do not have the answers to such questions, of course, because by myself I am not Plymouth Congregational Church. Ultimately, finding such answers will require all of us paying attention to the ways in which God is working in us to bring about this transformation. And it will require more than simply paying attention. It will require stepping into the new day and walking the path. That is how transformation works. But it begins with paying attention, and it begins with dreaming. So I invite you to dream with me.
I see a congregation that knows (deep down in the core of our being knows) the value of being together. We will not soon forget the importance of our connection. It is Spirit-formed and Spirit-sustained. And it is most profoundly experienced when there is flesh and blood and bone involved. Worship on the web kept us going, but it is when we gather together with hearts and hands and voices that we really shine. And the passion born of this new-found awareness will be contagious. People will be drawn to the radiance of God’s light shining forth from our koinonia community.
I see a congregation with a passion to reach out beyond ourselves and bring healing and wholeness and love and joy and life to the world around us. We have seen the need, and we have seen what can happen when people of good will join together to make a difference. We have heard the howling of community that will not be silenced by separation. And we have felt the stirrings of God’s Spirit within our midst, calling us to new ministries as yet unimagined. We will feed people. We will work for justice and equality. We will welcome the stranger. We will help to restore balance to the world.
I see a congregation that re-imagines what it means to be God’s Church. We will not be content with what has gone before. We will not be constrained by the boxes into which the world would seek to confine us. We will be a bold and daring and risk-taking people as we become God’s hands and feet and voice and heart in radically new ways. We will look beyond what was and we will live beyond what we thought we could be. We will learn to fly.
I see a congregation that loves being together - laughing and singing and playing and working and learning and growing together. We will recognize the presence of the Sacred shining in each other’s faces and we will delight in the privilege of sharing life together. It will be such a tangible experience that we will not be able to contain it. People will ask, “What’s going on up at Plymouth?” And they will want to be a part of it.
I see a butterfly emerging from the cocoon in all of its dazzling new glory as it learns to fly into God’s new day. Right now it’s a dream. The finished product will almost certainly look different. But God is already at work. The transformation has begun. And God’s new day is dawning. Are you ready to keep dreaming? Are you ready to shine? Are you ready to fly?
Roger Lynn
May 10, 2020
(CLICK HERE for the audio for this sermon)
(CLICK HERE for the video for this sermon)
(CLICK HERE to view the entire worship service video)
The process of “re-opening” has begun. There are phases and stages and metrics by which to gauge the progress. There are conversations about safety, and the economy, and getting back to “normal.” But we are the Church, and for us it is never about getting back to “normal.” “Cast your nets on the other side of the boat,” Jesus told Peter and James and John when he first called them to a new life. And a new life in a new day is what we are always being called to. We are an Easter people and resurrection is at the heart of what God is always and forever doing in the midst of us. In John’s Revelation, it ends with a bold vision of a new heaven and a new earth. “And behold, I make ALL things new!” declares God. When a butterfly emerges from the cocoon, it isn’t simply a caterpillar with wings attached. The caterpillar which enters the cocoon must dissolve in order for something wholly new to emerge at the other end of the process. So, as we in the church prepare to re-emerge into the world, may we do so with the awareness that God is preparing us and calling us to become something wholly and holy new.
David Wilcox once wrote a song he called “Farthest Shore.” In that song he imagined this process of transformation.
We were there in the woods by the water
We left our packs up against that willow tree
We dove right in, keeping just what we were born with
Our Memories, our knowledge, and our dreams
As I swam away from our possessions
I imagined that they were gone forever more
And for once I was glad that all I treasured
Would still be with me when I reached the other shore
So...Let me dive into the water
Leave behind all that I've worked for
Except what I remember and believe
And when I stand on the farthest shore
I will have all I need
What will we leave behind? What will we carry with us? As we prepare to emerge from this Covid-19 quarantine shut-down cocoon, I want to spend a few minutes dreaming about what the new Plymouth might look like in God’s new day that is dawning. Who will we be? What will we value? What will we do? I do not have the answers to such questions, of course, because by myself I am not Plymouth Congregational Church. Ultimately, finding such answers will require all of us paying attention to the ways in which God is working in us to bring about this transformation. And it will require more than simply paying attention. It will require stepping into the new day and walking the path. That is how transformation works. But it begins with paying attention, and it begins with dreaming. So I invite you to dream with me.
I see a congregation that knows (deep down in the core of our being knows) the value of being together. We will not soon forget the importance of our connection. It is Spirit-formed and Spirit-sustained. And it is most profoundly experienced when there is flesh and blood and bone involved. Worship on the web kept us going, but it is when we gather together with hearts and hands and voices that we really shine. And the passion born of this new-found awareness will be contagious. People will be drawn to the radiance of God’s light shining forth from our koinonia community.
I see a congregation with a passion to reach out beyond ourselves and bring healing and wholeness and love and joy and life to the world around us. We have seen the need, and we have seen what can happen when people of good will join together to make a difference. We have heard the howling of community that will not be silenced by separation. And we have felt the stirrings of God’s Spirit within our midst, calling us to new ministries as yet unimagined. We will feed people. We will work for justice and equality. We will welcome the stranger. We will help to restore balance to the world.
I see a congregation that re-imagines what it means to be God’s Church. We will not be content with what has gone before. We will not be constrained by the boxes into which the world would seek to confine us. We will be a bold and daring and risk-taking people as we become God’s hands and feet and voice and heart in radically new ways. We will look beyond what was and we will live beyond what we thought we could be. We will learn to fly.
I see a congregation that loves being together - laughing and singing and playing and working and learning and growing together. We will recognize the presence of the Sacred shining in each other’s faces and we will delight in the privilege of sharing life together. It will be such a tangible experience that we will not be able to contain it. People will ask, “What’s going on up at Plymouth?” And they will want to be a part of it.
I see a butterfly emerging from the cocoon in all of its dazzling new glory as it learns to fly into God’s new day. Right now it’s a dream. The finished product will almost certainly look different. But God is already at work. The transformation has begun. And God’s new day is dawning. Are you ready to keep dreaming? Are you ready to shine? Are you ready to fly?
No comments:
Post a Comment